


Walking on Sunshine

by chattoyant



Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alien Victor Nikiforov, Aliens, Alternate Universe - Farm/Ranch, Comedy, Culture Differences, Did I mention that Viktor also glows, Emotional Growth, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Eventual Smut, Farmer Katsuki Yuuri, Grief/Mourning, Guilt, Happy Ending, Loss, M/M, POV First Person, RIP Yuuri's blood pressure, Retired Katsuki Yuuri, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Science Fiction, Self Confidence Issues, Sexual Content, Shapeshifting, Slice of Life, Victor has no sense of shame, Victor is very touchy, Viktor learning about earth, minor animal death, tragic backstory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-07-28
Packaged: 2019-05-16 00:57:48
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 83,375
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14801291
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chattoyant/pseuds/chattoyant
Summary: "Knee-deep in manure, I begin to rethink how I allowed my life to take its turn from the blinding glare of the ice to the simple life I’ve lived for the past three years on a quiet farm at the slopes of the mountains of Hasetsu."After suffering a humiliating loss in Sochi, JSF-certified figure skater Katsuki Yuuri announces the end of his figure skating career to retire to the mountain slopes of Hasetsu and live an uneventful life as a farmer.Little does he know that his uneventful life does a complete three-sixty degree turn one night when he discovers a mysterious craft beside his farm and meets a strange alien with little to no sense of shame nor personal space.As they start living together, they slowly unearth glimpses of each other's pasts and learn that they share much more in common than they thought.





	1. Chapter 1

Knee-deep in manure, I begin to rethink how I allowed my life to take its turn from the blinding glare of the ice to the simple life I’ve lived for the past three years on a quiet farm at the slopes of the mountains of Hasetsu. I lived a promising life as a competitive figure skater, they said. Little did they know that all the failures and losses I’ve experienced while competing had taken a toll not only to my reputation as a figure skater, but on my anxiety as well. As if I wasn’t already an anxious wreck to begin with. Despite all of that, however, people urged me on to continue with my career and have medals weighing proudly against my neck. So I did, for a while. That was, until I had a breakdown at Sochi and did very poorly in my performance because my dog died. I came out last in the scoreboard. The pressure had gotten to me. Instead of going home that day with a medal weighing heavy against my neck, I went home with all the pent-up fears and anxiety all combined into one solid, ugly amorphous lump bearing down against my back. When I went home the year after, I barely even made it to the Nationals at all. It was loss after loss after loss after loss. It was hopeless. The same year, I officially announced my retirement from competitive figure skating and started helping out in our family-run hot spring inn for a while. Then, we received news that my uncle had passed away due to illness with no heirs or spouse left to take care of his property. Not only that, but we were his only living relatives left in Japan as the others had gone overseas. My mother and father had the hot springs to take care of and were busy running the hot springs along with my sister Mari, which leaves me. I figured that a slow change of pace in life couldn’t be so bad. I might as well make myself useful. And so, I went up to the task and travelled to the life I currently live now.

Pulling myself up from the manure pit, my face crinkles up in disgust as the offending stench of animal excrement wafts its unwelcome way into my nostrils. This is the second time in a week that I’ve fallen into the manure pit now. Not only do I reek of sweat, but of shit as well. Letting out a frustrated huff, I shake off what debris I could from my clothes and walked back into the farmhouse with my boots caked mud and filth, taking care to take it off before I enter or risk messing up the floors. With an annoyed grunt, I take to stripping myself down of my dirty clothes and dump them into the empty washing machine before I scrub myself clean in the shower. I dress myself up in a long-sleeved sweater with a button-up shirt worn over it. I pull on some pants and a decent pair of boots before sliding my phone and the keys to the pick-up truck into the back pocket and heading back to work.  I begin loading wooden crates filled with the week’s harvest into the back of the truck to be delivered to Nishigori, my childhood friend who runs a grocery store less than a mile from the farm. The farm is pretty small compared to others but I guess it makes for a decent crop yield for a one-man run property. I finish loading the week’s delivery into the back and fish out my keys from my pocket to open the door and start the car.

 

When I park the pick-up in front of the grocery store and get off the vehicle, Nishigori greets me with a wide grin and a gruff yet affectionate pat on the back.

“Good morning, Nishigori,” I greet him back with a smile as I make my way to the back. “I hope I’m not too late on the deliveries,” I add with a slight chuckle.

“Actually, you’re just in time!” he replies back cheerfully as he climbs onto the back of the pick-up and begins hauling the wooden crates out and handing them to me to set on the ground.

“Really, I should be doing this myself,” I say as I set another crate down.

“Nah, just let me help you out,” he insists. “They’re quite heavy, after all.” He gives me a lopsided grin and flexes a bicep and kisses it to show off. I roll my eyes and snicker in response. To be honest, Nishigori hasn’t changed much since we were kids. Still the same gruff yet caring friend I always knew.

“What, think I can’t handle a bit of weight?” I retorted jokingly as I continued helping him set down the crates. “I carried these myself to the truck after all.”

As he finished unloading the truck with the last of the crates, he hopped off let out a laugh. “Right, right sorry about that.” He pats my shoulder and takes two crates at a time to put inside the grocery store to begin stocking up.

I take one and follow him inside as the blessed cold of the air conditioning cooled the sweat on my body.

“Ah! Good morning, Yuuri!” Yuuko greets me happily as she looked up from wiping the counter clean.

“Good morning, Yuuko-san,” I reply softly as I smile back at her.

“Yuuri, it’s Yuu-chan, remember?” she giggles cheerfully before swatting my shoulder playfully.  “And oh, let me help you with those!” Yuuko takes the crate I was carrying from my arms and walks into the vegetable aisle to restock before I could protest.

I follow her to the vegetable aisle and squat down beside her to help her stock up some new vegetables.

“Wow, Yuuri, you’re really getting the hang of this farming thing, aren’t you?” she picks up a cabbage from the crate and inspects it for any rot or damage before putting it on the shelf.  “Your produce is always so fresh! You must really put a lot of care into growing these, don’t you?”

I feel myself blush at her compliment. “Ah, I do, thank you,” I smile at her sheepishly as I help her arrange the cabbages on the shelf. “It gets really tiring sometimes but it feels really rewarding growing food that I know will make people happy.”

“You’re so kind, Yuuri,” Yuuko smiles at me sweetly. “Food does bring people together, doesn’t it?”

“It does,” I feel a warm and pleasant sensation as I think of my mother’s katsudon and how she would gather friends and family over for a feast after I brought home a medal from a competition. But then I remember that I no longer compete, that I quit skating three years ago because I was such a failure in something I used to be so good at, in something that even got me certified into the JSF. That warm and pleasant feeling sinks down into the dark depths of my soul only to be replaced with something heavy and cold.

I pause at what I’m doing and stay motionless as I recall how I let my anxiety win over me and the dream I could’ve pursued.

Because of me, Yuuko and Nishigori had to close down the rink because no one wanted to skate anymore now that I quit and I gave them the trouble of having to start up a new business. To even think that I was behind people’s motivation to even pick up skating or continue skating is kind of funny given how I can barely even motivate myself.

What were people thinking, seeing such an anxious wreck as myself as an inspiration?

 “Yuuri.” Yuuko’s voice was clear and firm as she cups her hand over mine, snapping me back to my senses. “You’re overthinking again,” she states as a matter of fact. Of all people, she knew how to read me the most. Even I can’t hide anything from her.

“I’m sorry, Yuuko-chan,” I mumble softly under my breath as I look up to meet her gaze.

“There’s nothing to be sorry about, Yuuri,” she assures me as she grips my hand soothingly in hers. “Nobody blames you for anything. Not Takeshi, not me, not the kids nor your family.”

“You were hurting, and you had to do what was best for yourself and that is something I can respect,” she looks at me tenderly as her words wash over me like a balm to a burn. “I can’t even begin to imagine the pressure you’ve been put under, especially when you’ve lost someone so dear to you. We were shocked when you announced your retirement but never were we disappointed in you.”

I purse my lips and cast my lashes down as I feel my eyes begin to water.

“We loved seeing you skate. But we love you even more, Yuuri.” 

I sniffle and take off my glasses to wipe the tears threatening to slide off my eyes and smile at her.

She always knows what to say.

“Thank you, Yuuko-chan,” I grip her hand back firmly. “Having you say that…really means a lot to me.” I feel something warm and light settle in my chest as the fears that have weighed me down have been lifted, even if only for now. Now if only I could make myself feel better the way Yuuko does.

“Anytime, Yuuri,” she replies happily as she gives my shoulder a soft pat. “Now, let’s get back to stocking up, shall we?” she picks up a cabbage from the crate and continues where we left off.

“Alright,” I pick up the produce and helped her arrange it on the shelf and smiled at her.

It took us about an hour to finish the job, with Nishigori opting to carry the crates inside by himself while I helped Yuuko finish stocking up the vegetable aisle.

“Thank you for helping out, Yuuri!” Nishigori says as he claps my back rather too hard for my liking. I laugh it off and thank him for carrying the crates inside. “By the way, Yuuko told me that something was wrong a while ago,” he adds with concern writ on his face. “Are you feeling alright now?” He pulls out his wallet and takes out some bills to hand to me. 

"Thank you." I give him a nod as I put the money in my wallet. “And yeah, I am,” I feel grateful for him just asking.

“Just remember that anytime you’re feeling down, me and Yuuko and the kids are always here for you, okay?”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” I smile at him with a slight nod. “And speaking of which, where are Axel, Lutz and Loop?”

“Ah, they’re at home playing this new videogame their mom bought them,” he chuckles. “Their mother told them to come help out but they insisted on staying home instead.”

“Just like you when you were younger."

“Of course. Children take after their parents, after all.”

Yuuko walks up to her husband and pinches him at the side playfully. “Those girls have grown up to be such rascals because they take after you.” She snickers as she removes her hand from his side.

“At least they take after you in looks,” Nishigori teases back, which had Yuuko blushing.

“The two of you are so sweet,” I comment as I look at them teasing each other with that sort of comfort and playfulness that couples have. I wish I could have something like that too. Maybe someday, I hope.

“Anyway, I have to go back to the farm now and feed the animals.” I take the keys from my pocket and open the front door of the pick-up. “I’ll see you all again soon!” I wave at them with a smile and step inside the vehicle to start the engine.

“Bye, Yuuri! Take care!” Yuuko calls out as she and Nishigori wave their arms goodbye.

“Come back soon!” Nishigori adds.

“I will, goodbye!” I respond with the same enthusiasm as theirs as I push the pedal and drive away from the grocery and back into the farm where I have a few, or maybe not so few tasks to do before I could call it a day.

 

* * *

 

 

After all the animals were fed, the land tilled to make way for new crops and the cows milked and the eggs from the chickens collected, my work for the day was not quite done yet. Later in the afternoon when the sun had almost set, Lee Seung-gil, a Korean entrepreneur starting up his own bakery, came to stop by at the farm to pick up his order of milk and eggs.

“So you ordered 10 gallons of milk and 6 dozen eggs, right?” I read the order form out to him to make sure nothing has been missed.

“Yes, that’s right,” he replied quietly as his employees loaded the goods into the truck. “And as promised, here is the payment for your hard work.” Seung-gil reaches into the pocket of his jacket and hands out a white envelope with money inside.

I accepted the envelope with both hands and thanked him with a bow.

“Thank you for doing business with me, Lee-san.”

“Just Seung-gil is fine,” he waves off the formalities. “And thank you too.”

“You’re welcome, Seung-gil,” I bow again.

“Well then, I have to take my leave now,” he says as he looks at the time on his watch. “Thank you for your time, Katsuki,” he returns the bow before turning his back and walks towards his truck to make his way back to wherever he is headed.

 

Now that that task was off the list, it was time to head back inside and call it a day. I make myself a simple dinner of miso soup and marinated fried eel with rice and lounge in front of the television to watch the news.

 _“Multiple UFO sightings have been spotted all throughout Japan, with the most recent one appearing yesterday at 3:40 AM above Mt. Fuji,”_ the reporter announced as I keep my eyes glued to a blurry image of a round barely-decipherable object glowing with a strange blue light. Until I can see the proof right before my eyes, I still consider myself a skeptic about the existence of aliens.

_“The unidentified flying object is described by many eyewitness accounts as being round and blue and moving in a quick counterclockwise direction around Mt. Fuji. Some speculate that the vehicle may be a test aircraft that the military has developed. However, only few believe that claim. The Japan Meteorology Agency have made an official statement that the supposed craft was nothing but a weather balloon sent to test conditions in the atmosphere.”_

_“A military aircraft?! You can’t fool me!,”_ A man on the screen being interviewed exclaims. _“That is clearly an alien spacecraft making its contact!”_

 _“It’s impossible that human technology can possibly make something round with no visible thrusters on the outside to be able to fly like that,”_ another man replies after being asked a question on what his thoughts about the sightings are. _“I watch Ancient Aliens and the ancient astronauts are definitely coming back to impart their knowledge to us once again.”_

I snort a bit at the man’s ridiculous claim and take a bite out of my fried eel.

 _“Weather balloon?! I don’t think a weather balloon can travel at high speeds nor glow!”_ a woman stated. _“The government is feeding us lies! They clearly covered this up to hide the truth from us!”_

_“I think aliens are finally going to show themselves to us after all this time. We were not alone in the universe all along—“_

I switch the channel to something with less conspiracy theories and watched the latest episode of some anime wherein a girl transforms into a burly man wearing a magical girl outfit as I finished the rest of my dinner.

After watching some television, I look up at the clock and find that it’s already 8 in the evening. I might as well wash the dishes and sleep early.

After all the dishes have been washed, I brush my teeth and wash my face before going to sleep. I tuck myself underneath the covers and close my eyes as I wait for the heavy, welcome weight of slumber to grace my eyelids and send me resting peacefully. And grace me, it did as I finally feel myself able to sleep properly for the first time in two weeks.

Or so I thought.

My rest was short-lived when I hear a loud crash from outside.

Did a plane crash into the farm? A missile? My mind is coming up with hundreds of possibilities on what the object that crashed outside could be. Could it be the UFO I heard from the news? No, that’s impossible.

I hurriedly grab my glasses from the nightstand and put them on before getting out of bed and running out of the house to see what on earth was going on. I grab a flashlight on my way out and didn’t bother with shoes as I stepped out of the house to be greeted with the sight of thick black smoke coming from the forest to the left of the farm. The trees to the right of the source of the smoke were flattened as if something travelling at high speeds zoomed its way there. All common sense and horror movies have told me not to get too curious or go checking out weird stuff or something really bad might happen. My curiosity got the better of me and I click the flashlight on as I make my way to the forest.

Whatever I’ll find there, well…I hope I’m prepared for whatever I see.

I make my way through the path of flattened trees made conveniently by whatever it is that crashed into the forest and step on the occasional sharp object or two. I should have worn shoes instead. As I look ahead at the farthest end of the path, I notice that a shallow crater had been created, with the trees surrounding it being either broken in two or bent from the force of the crash. From the base of the smoke pillar, I could see a blue glow emanating.

I get closer and stand at the edge of the crater to find out the source of the blue light.

_I can’t believe it._

In the middle of the crater was a circular craft that emitted a strange blue glow.

“Isn’t this the same thing I saw in the news a while ago?” I mutter to myself, not quite believing what I’m seeing before my very eyes.

Against my better judgement, I hop into the crater to inspect the spacecraft closer.

As I got closer, I saw that the round spacecraft was the size of a small car. It had been badly dented and heavily damaged. Whoever or whatever piloted this thing must be either dead or badly injured. If the pilot is alive, though, would it lunge forward at me and kill me like the aliens I saw in movies? I can feel my heart thrumming loudly in my ears and hammering quickly against my rib cage at the potential possibility of my cause of death being brought about by my own curiosity. I take a deep breath and run my hands against the surface of the spacecraft. On it were tiny hexagonal-shaped pieces the size of a fingernail that joined up together to create the overall round structure. I found it strange how the entire structure glowed a steady blue despite having no apparent light bulbs or LED. Maybe these hexagon things are behind this? I circle the craft, running my hands against the surface as I did so. There were no windows or doors. How else was the pilot of this thing going to see what’s ahead of him let alone even get inside if there were no windows or doors?

I investigate the craft further to see if there were any buttons or panels, or anything and poked anything that might seem to be of importance. As I placed my palm on the front of the spacecraft, the glowing hexagonal-shaped pieces turned clear and transparent under my hand, showing the contents of the strange vehicle. Inside was a control panel of some sorts, a chair and—

_Is that a person inside?!_

I press my face against the window to make sure my eyes weren’t fooling me.

There was a man lying unconscious (or dead?) with his face against the control panel. What is a person doing here? Is this really a new test aircraft that the military has developed? Is this even a UFO to begin with? So much questions are running through my mind right now that I don’t even know which is which. I put those thoughts aside and figure out a way to get the man inside out of this thing and check if he’s alive or not.

I run my fingers against the spacecraft for some semblance of a door or an entrance. I feel my way around to no avail and decided to just break open the window. I climb back up to the edge of the crater and picked up a heavy branch and swung it against the window. Instead of breaking, the branch bounces off the surface and hit me in the gut instead, sending me toppling off my feet and knocking the air out my lungs.

I coughed and hacked as I throw the branch off of me and pin my arm to my stomach and slowly got my bearings as I got back on my feet. I’ve got to find a way to save the person inside. It’s unlikely that there isn’t any door in this thing. I walked back up to the vehicle and shine my flashlight over it to inspect the little details that my eyes alone couldn’t take notice of. Then, I see a hexagonal piece that looked out of place. Not only was it bigger than the others, but it was red and was jutting out from the rest. This is probably a button.

As I press it, the entire spacecraft splits in half and the man inside shifts from his position on the dashboard to the ground, where his arm sticks out of the gap made by the two halves of the craft.

I grab his arm and pulled him out of the UFO and lay him on his back to press my ear against his chest and check for a heartbeat.

I breathe a sigh of relief as his pulse confirmed that this man is alive.

As I sit up I take a closer look at the stranger, I find that not only is he very beautiful, he happens to be very naked as well. As my eyes travel down to the south of his body, I can feel my face burn and fluster as I snap my head back.

“No, no, I shouldn’t look at someone this way,” I mumble to myself as I rub my hands against my face to will the embarrassment to go away. I took in a deep breath as I calmed myself down and inspected—more like found myself enthralled by this handsome stranger. His build is slender and his skin is very pale and looked almost luminous when the light shines against it just like so. His hair glows as if they were made of individual strands of silver. I run a finger against his cheek, surprised that my touch leaves a pale blue glow that recedes quickly. His eyelashes were long and the same shade of silver his hair was and his lips were soft and pink to the touch.

Briefly, I feel my heart skip a beat.

Someone this beautiful can’t possibly be human. Where else can you see someone that glows when you touch them?

I’ve always thought that aliens looked like the same spindly-limbed gray creatures with disproportionately huge heads and large black eyes that stare into your soul. I was wrong. Before me was the most beautiful person that I have ever seen. It only makes sense that anyone who looks like this can’t be from this place.

I slap both hands against my cheek to stop myself from gawking over this guy.

_Alright Yuuri, stop gawking and take care of this person like a normal person would do. Would a normal person invite an alien into their home though?_

At this point, I don’t even care now and common sense has long left me.

With all the strength I can muster, I carry this beautiful man onto my back and lock my hands under his knees to keep him upright and wind his arms around my neck. I begin to climb my way out of the crater and was he way heavier than he looked. Thanks to the muscle three years of farm work has given me, I manage to climb out of the crater safely and walk out of the forest without much difficulties asides from my knees threatening to buckle underneath me from time to time. Finally, I reach the farm house and place the poor man on my bed with a heave and rummage through my closet for clothes that are big enough to fit him.

I found none, so I settle with a sweat shirt that had gone baggy on me and some sweat pants that were rather loose on me. As I make my way to the bed to give the man some semblance of modesty, I found that he was sitting up looking around the strange, unfamiliar room with eyes that were too blue and too clear to be real. As he was looking around, his eyes lock onto mine and he cocks his head with curiosity as he opens his mouth to speak.

 

“Who are you and where am I?”

His voice was soft yet rich and velvety, like a spark of electricity that courses through my nerves—

“Why am I here?” He looks confused and disoriented, which was expected. What I did not expect, however, was how casual and unbothered he was by his relative state of nudity. Maybe aliens did not wear clothes? Reminding myself not to look below his waist, I walk up to him to answer his questions.

“Hello, my name is Yuuri,” I introduce myself as calmly as I could. “You’re in my house right now. I brought you here after I found you in the forest.”

“Where is my ship?” he asks me, with not a hint of worry or concern on his face.

“It was in a relatively bad state when I found you. Do you want it fixed?”

“Fixed?” he looks almost offended by the question but then quickly regains his composure. “No, no, of course I don’t want it fixed. Besides, I don't think you'll be capable of fixing it yourself."

I feel like I should get offended but he did make sense. I raise an eyebrow in question. “Why not? Didn’t you crash-land here? Surely, you must want to go home right?”

He avoids answering the question entirely and breathes out a sigh before his lips curl at the corners to smile at me. “So you’re Yuuri, right?” he holds out his hand to me for a handshake. “My name is Viktor.”

“Pleased to make your acquaintance.” He chuckles as I take his hand to shake it.

“Nice to meet you too, Viktor,” I return his smile, albeit rather awkwardly. Will he be staying here? I guess it won’t hurt to have one more person in the house.

“Anyway, you should get dressed,” I hand him the sweat shirt and pants, which he eyes at curiously. “You might just catch a cold like that,” I add as my face started heating up again.

“Dressed?” He stares at the clothes I gave him as if they were something foreign to him. Were they?

“Yeah, you put those on to cover your body,” I take the sweat shirt and put it over his head. “Now, slip your arms through the sleeves.” I feel like a parent dressing their toddler as I watch him put the sweater on and find that it was too tight with fabric stretched taut across his chest.

“I hardly wear anything when I’m at home,” he grumbled as stretched an arm as his upper half was fully clad. “It’s too restricting.”

“What?” I could feel the blood from my face threaten to burst out of its capillaries at the image of people walking around in the nude as if it was the normal thing in the world. Is that the norm in his planet or is he just a nudist?

“A-Anyway,” I shake off the mental image as I picked up the sweat pants. “Slide these onto your legs.” I’d rather not put the sweat pants on him myself, thank you very much. The very thought of it sends blood rushing down to places I’d rather not mention.

He sighs as he takes the sweat pants and slides it on with relative ease to my relief.

As my heart begins to slow down to its normal pace and my blood sent to flow in its usual pathways, I still have so much questions to be answered.

“Anyway, are you hurt anywhere?” I ask him.

"Nope.” Rather, he looked more bothered and annoyed than hurt as he pulled at the fabric of his pants.

“Ah, that’s such a relief!” I reply. “I was worried that you had some internal injuries or something.” How did he manage to survive such an impact, though? Surely anyone or anything that falls at such speeds would either be dead or severely injured. Is he just physically resilient or did the technology in his space craft protect him somehow?

“By the way, can I get you something to eat?” I offer.

“Ah, I’m good, thank you,” he answers me as he _casually_ stretches the waistband of his sweat pants and very nearly reveals his crotch as if he was testing the fabric against his body. This man has no sense of shame at all.

If every day is going to be like this from now on, with someone unfazed by his own nakedness, I’m going to end up having a stroke someday. Well, I took him into my home and now he’s my responsibility. I can’t just throw someone I invited into my home out. It’s not every day that you get to meet an alien, after all.

“Anyway, Viktor, where are you from?” I ask him, and then he stops fiddling with his waistband, thank god.

There are so much things that I want to know about him. How his world is like, what they do, what they eat, their technology, their language and most importantly why aliens haven’t made their presence officially known to the public.

“I come from a planet called Adamanta,” he replies with a faint smile to his lips. “It’s found all the way in Andromeda and orbits a star called Ignis. But from now on, earth is where I’ll be living from now on, if you’ll have me.”

“Of course.” I smile at him. “But why earth, of all places?” 

“Well, for one,” he pulls his knees up to his chest and looks at me with a bright-eyed look. “Earth seems like such a great place, after all. I’ve heard so much about it and how it’s so beautiful, diverse, peaceful and free!” Viktor added enthusiastically.

“Peaceful? Well, I wouldn’t know about that,” I chuckle.

“What do you mean?” he asks, his eyes brimming with interest just as much as mine.

“I could tell you,” I stop in the middle of my sentence to yawn. “But it might ruin your image of earth if I do.”

“Why would it?” he asks with an almost innocent, childlike curiosity. “If you were kind enough to take me into your home, I’m sure there are a lot of kind people like you to make the earth as beautiful of a place that I think it is.”

I blush. “T-Thank you, Viktor,” I mutter shyly.

“You know, Yuuri,” Viktor gets up from the bed and walks towards where I was seated and enthusiastically clasps my hands in his as he leans close towards me. “If there is one thing I want to know about this planet, I want to know more about you the most!” His lips curve into an open-mouthed heart-shaped smile as my fingers imprint a faint blue light on his skin.

“I want to get to know you, to be your friend and to be someone you can rely on.” The tips of his fingers caress my chin and trace the underside of my jaw with feather-light touches as I look directly into those beautiful blue eyes of his. I can feel my face heating up and my heart beating loudly against my ribcage as he was so, so, dangerously close despite being someone I met just minutes ago. Is this one of his customs or is he just naturally touchy? 

His fingers caress my cheek before he retreats his hands back into mine. He looks at me smiling and yet it was as if his eyes bore a hint of sadness that I could barely see beneath its watery depths.

“M-Me too,” I stutter out as he stare at our joined hands. “I’d like to know more about you too, Viktor,” “I’m glad to hear that, Yuuri,” his eyes crinkle in delight before pressing his lips softly against my knuckles, which left me flushed and not to mention shocked even further.

_What is this man doing?!_

“You know, if you want, I could show you around tomorrow,” I suggest, mumbling out of the blue as the sensation of his lips against my knuckles imprinted itself on my skin like an afterimage.  

“Really?!” He beams and jumps out to wrap his arms around me excitedly. “Thank you, thank you, Yuuri!” Viktor practically nuzzles against my cheek as he tightens his hold around me. “I’d love to look around!”

“V-Viktor…” I say between choked gasps as his vise-like hold threatened to collapse my ribcage. “I-I can’t breathe…”

“Oh! Sorry, Yuuri!” He gets off me and chuckles sheepishly as he scratched the back of his head. “Are you alright?”

“Yeah,” I take deep swig of air and inhale. “I’m alright.”

“Anyway, why don’t we get some sleep first before we go around town tomorrow?” I yawn as I stretch my limbs out before me.

“Alright, but aren’t you gonna sleep on your bed?” Viktor walks back to sit up on his bed and scoots over to the left and pats the empty space beside him as if in invitation.

“N-No,” The thought of it jerks me back alert. “You’re my guest, after all, so the bed is all yours,” I insist.

“Well, alright then.” He lets out a soft hearty laugh as he tucks himself beneath the covers and turn himself towards me. “Good night, Yuuri,” he says with a smile before closing his eyes. “Thank you.”

“Good night, Viktor.” I smile as I lean back against the arm chair and place my glasses on the windowsill behind. I close my eyes as I wait for sleep to come.

My mind is restless as I think about the many things that could happen or the things that I could do now with someone from out of this world. It’s exciting thinking of all the endless possibilities that could happen with someone else now living under the same roof as me. I can’t wait to know more about him and countless of other things I never even thought possible. Perhaps this could be what I just needed to put a little change in my life. For the first time in a while, I actually look forward for tomorrow.

Lulled by the thoughts swirling about in my mind, I drift off to sleep dreaming of spaceships, of galaxies, stars and of glowing skies and blue eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh wow it's been a while since I actually wrote something on this site!  
> I finally found the will to actually write something again and unlike the previous fics I've posted, I actually intend to finish this since I actually made a story plan instead of just making it up along as I go unlike last time lmao
> 
> I actually intended for this to be a crack fic when I was scribbling down on my notebook one day and came up with a draft many months before I even decided on posting this one but welp, I scratched the crack idea and decided to turn this into a legitimate fan fic.
> 
> (might post the crack draft that started it all soon!)
> 
> Anyway, thank you so much for taking the time to read this! :D  
> If you liked what you read, a kudos and a comment is very much appreciated! <3  
> Updates are every week because wow I actually found the willpower to write the third chapter prior to posting this
> 
> If you want to be friends,check for updates, just chat or see me shitpost, follow me [@chattoyant_zee](https://twitter.com/chattoyant_zee)


	2. Chapter 2

When the roosters outside crow at the arrival of morning, I squirm in my seat as I yawn and stretch the remaining remnants of slumber off my limbs. I take my glasses from where I’ve left them on the windowsill and put them on, rendering the blurry splotches of color clear before my very eyes. I look at the clock on the wall and see that it’s already half past ten. I get up from the arm chair and walk sluggishly towards the bed to wake my extraterrestrial guest up.

“Good morning, Viktor—“And from where I stand, I can c _learly_ see that he was sleeping curled up on my bed with a pillow wedged between his legs. The man was as naked as the day he was born. His clothes were long forgone and strewn on the floor.  Viktor groaned as he shifted his position on the bed and turned to his right, looking utterly defenseless as he exposes his ass to my eyes.

I grab the blanket from where it lay bunched up at his feet and hastily drape it over him before I pop a blood vessel _or something else_. I inhale and take a deep breath as I head out of the room to head to the kitchen and make breakfast.

As I finish plating up a simple breakfast of eggs, toast and bacon on the table, Viktor pokes out his head from the doorway of my room and yawns as he walks sleepily towards me, devoid of clothes.

“Wow, it smells so good!” He sniffs at the air and takes a deep inhale of the scent wafting through the air. “Is this breakfast?”

“V-V-Viktor, put your clothes on!” I practically yell at him with my face as hot as a skillet as he shows up for breakfast with his dick dangling casually between his legs.

“It restricts my movement too much,” he complains with a grumble as he pulls out a chair from underneath the table and seats his bare ass on it. “Besides, I can just shapeshift clothes onto my body.”

“W-What?!” I recall the incidents that had to do with Viktor’s nudity and how I could’ve saved myself the embarrassment if only he’d informed me sooner. “Why didn’t you tell me in the first place?”

“You didn’t ask,” he answers with that heart-shaped smile of his as he morphs an oversized blue shirt and black shorts onto his body—an exact replica of what I’m wearing at the moment. I roll the ball of my palm against my forehead and huffed in relief as he was finally clothed. Or was he?

“If you could shapeshift clothes onto your body all along,” I begin as I sit across him beside the table. “Why were you naked when I found you in the forest?”

“Because I wanted to be!” He replies brightly as if it was the most normal thing in the world and chuckles. I knew it. This guy was a nudist.

“Well, alright, Viktor.” I take a piece of toast and smear some strawberry jam in it. He does the same. “If you’re going to be living here, then you should always have clothes on except for when you bathe.” I take a bite of my piece of bread and he follows my actions. “What if somebody comes over and sees you naked? People will think I’m a pervert for letting a guest walk around the house naked!”

“Pervert?” He says as he stabs a piece of bacon with his fork. “What about that book with naked people I found underneath your bed?”

I feel a cold chill wash over my entire body. “Well, I—“

“And what about those long wobbly things I found that look like—“

“S-Stop!” I reach across the table frantically to place my hand over his mouth to shush him. My face feels hotter than hell itself. “You shouldn’t look through people’s stuff, it’s rude!”

He nods in understanding and I remove my hand from his face. “But you know, Yuuri, you shouldn’t be embarrassed about things like that.” Says the one who walks around naked without a care. “Everyone has a secret or two after all!” He wiggles his finger in front of me and stuffs his face with bacon.

I sigh and will the embarrassment to slowly seep out. Well, I guess he’s right. But it’s a different thing entirely when other people find out about it.

“Yuuri, what’s this salty smoky thing?” He speaks with his mouth open and then swallows. “It tastes so good!”

“That’s called bacon.” I slice my egg with my fork and eat it. “What’s the food like back in your planet, Viktor?”

“Delicious! We have green eggs and blue milk for breakfast.” He replies enthusiastically and practically shoves the entire fried egg into his mouth.

Green eggs? Blue milk? Haven’t I heard of that from somewhere?  

“But that’s not all!” He takes a sip from the glass of milk beside his plate.  “Every winter it’s also tradition to serve stuffed and roasted flying fish.”

“Flying fish? The flying fish we have here are way too small to be stuffed.”

“Oh, but they’re really huge though. They’re like the size of my entire arm. They’re fish that literally have wings.” He explains. A fish with wings? What course did evolution possibly take in his planet? “Ah, I wish I brought along my tablet so I can show you how it looks like.”

I chuckle at his enthusiasm and put a slice of bacon into my mouth. “Anyway, we should finish up and get ready before we go out.”

“Right! I almost forgot.” His eyes sparkle in excitement and practically _licks_ his plate clean with quite possibly the longest tongue I’ve ever seen on someone. How does he fit something like that in his mouth?

_What else does that tongue do—_

Phichit’s words quickly flash in my mind only to be shushed out before I go having indecent thoughts. Damn it. Having him not only as my best friend but my roommate during my days in Detroit have implanted his various catchphrases in my mind.

“Anyway, I’ll go wash the dishes and take a shower,” I collect the plates from the table and do said tasks.

As I was finished showering, I let Viktor take his turn in the shower only for him to keep fiddling with the knobs and yelp when he had turn the tap on too hot. I explain to him how the shower works and he explains back to me how showering back in his planet is done. It’s more like being in a carwash rather than bathing based on his description. He told me how you have to step in a chamber wherein you’re bombarded with jets of water from every single direction before being scrubbed clean by mechanical hands and blow-dried. After he finishes showering, he shapeshifts the exact set of clothes I’m wearing onto himself. I shove the car keys, wallet and phone into my back pocket and head out of the house with Viktor in tow to feed the cows and chickens before I take him out sight-seeing. He follows me around and observes me curiously as I fill the trough with feed as the animals line up to eat.

“Excuse me.” I get startled out of my duties when I hear a gruff, rough voice behind me. I look around and see two burly official-looking men in black suits and sunglasses. “Are you Katsuki Yuuri?”

They were intimidating. They towered over me like a lamp post and I try my best not to lose my composure. Am I going to be arrested for something I didn’t know I did? “May I help you gentlemen?”

“We’re from the PSIA.” The first man introduces himself as he holds out his badge and acknowledges Viktor, who was crouching beside the trough. He was stoic and calm and his expression was obscured by his sun glasses. “Seeing as you’re the person who lives closest to the forest, you must have witnessed the incident last night, haven’t you?”

“Yes, I have.” There was no point in lying to them. It was clear enough from my past experiences that I was very bad at doing so.

“Well, Katsuki-san, we find that it is in your best interests and ours that you keep quiet about this incident,” the second man tells me, his voice commanding yet firm. “Speak of this to no one.”

“Y-Yes, of course.” I nod. There was no knowing what they would do if I did.  

“Thank you for your cooperation.” The two men give a curt bow and leave as quickly as they had arrived. They walk out of the farm in their impossibly-pristine leather shoes and drive out of sight in a black car.

“What was that all about?” Viktor asks, looking a bit puzzled as he shoves his hand in a bag of chicken feed and sprinkles the pellets on the trough.

I huff and roll up the top of the bag of chicken feed before storing it in a crate next to the coop. “Government operatives. It seems that they’ve found your ship in the forest and want to keep it secret from the public.”

“Why would they?”

“Know that I think about it, I don’t really know why they’d go through all the trouble.”

Viktor hums thoughtfully at my reply and stands up from his crouch to dust his hands on his pants.

“Anyway.” I start to change the topic before I go off rambling. “Let’s head out now, shall we?”

He smiles brightly and nods before he follows me to the car, which he describes being an archaic transport contraption.

He sticks his head out of the window, taking in the scenery of trees as the dirt road gives way to a paved mountain road overlooking Hasetsu. I chuckle to myself as Viktor practically gawks at everything we pass by, even at something as ordinary as a stray cat passing by.

“Where do you want to go first, Viktor?” I ask him as the car makes it way down the road, the scenery below slowly growing closer and obscured behind the trees.

“Hm.” He pauses to think. “What about the ocean? I’ve seen it a lot while I was up in the ship but I didn’t really get to look at it better.”

“Alright then, to the beach it is!” I feel myself looking forward to the thought of going to the ocean and smile to myself. It had been a while since I went there ever since I started farming. The car finally exits the mountain road and we pass by a road lined sparsely with buildings placed far apart from one another, turning more crowded and lively as we drive by.

“Good morning!” Viktor waves and greets an elderly woman carrying groceries in one hand. The woman stops in her tracks, probably surprised by how a foreign-looking man greets her in Japanese and then waves back at him before going on her way.

“Come to think of it, Viktor.”

“Hm?” He turns towards me.

“How do you know how to speak Japanese? You haven’t been here on earth that long, right?”

“Ah, I can adopt the spoken language of whatever place I’m in.” He states with a smile. “I’m pretty useless when it comes to reading and writing though.” Viktor adds with a chuckle.

“But wow, that’s pretty useful skill to have though,” I remark. Imagine forgetting the trouble of having to learn another language entirely when talking to a foreigner. “That reminds me, I used to take English lessons before I went to Detroit.” I begin recalling fondly. “I was really proud of myself for passing the English lessons but when the time came to actually talk with someone who speaks English, all I could do was stutter and forget which words means which!” I let out a laugh upon remembering that awkward time wherein my accent was so thick I could barely be understood. “Over time, though, as I continued training in Detroit, I improved my speaking skills as I practiced talking to people.”

“Wow, it’s amazing how you put so much effort in learning a language!” Viktor exclaims and claps his hands together. “Humans are really something.” I wave it off and feel myself blush at the compliment. “But what were you training for, though? Were you training to fight?” It was brief but I see a flash of pensive sadness in his eyes.

“I guess I was in a way.” I chuckle softly as I found the same hint of sadness settle within myself. “I was training for a sport called figure skating.”

“What’s it like?”

“Oh, it’s really great.” My lips quirk up into a sad smile as I replay memories of the cold chill of the rink biting against my cheeks. I recall the patterns my skates would trace onto the ice as my body would move and bend to my will before I leap into the air in time with the music. “It’s where you wear special shoes with blades attached to the sole and dance on ice.” I recall the weight of medals hanging around my neck, and the thrill of standing at the podium but in the end, the past will remain nothing but the past.

“Come to think of it, we have something similar back home too,” Viktor remarks as we pass by a street lined with trees preparing their leaves for autumn. He looks out of the window and stares in awe at the sight before him before turning back to face me. “But instead of ice you dance on the surface of water using these special shoes that makes you float on it.” His reply breaks me out of my musing at the mention of such sport. “You do tricks on the water to earn points and the more complicated the tricks, the more points you earn!”

“Wow, that’s amazing,” I comment, amazed at how similar yet different from skating it is altogether. “Skating is the same too!”

“Will you show me how to skate sometime?” He asks me, bright-eyed. I would if I could get over my fear of the ice and not having to be reminded of the shame I felt at my defeat every time I step on it. Wanting not ruin his enthusiasm, I agree despite myself.

“Of course!” I feel my heart grow heavy at the thought having to step on the ice again in what seems like forever. I grip the stirring wheel tightly as I try to repress back the memories. “But I might not be as good as I used to since it’s been a while since I went skating.” And besides, there isn’t really any rink to speak of in Hasetsu anymore.

“Why? Did you quit?”

“Yeah…” I pause to purse my lips as I look at the road ahead. I could already see the ocean to the right of me. “Sort of like that.”

“Hm.” Viktor looks hums quietly to himself and doesn’t press on which is something I’m thankful for.

“Anyway, Viktor, look, it’s the ocean!” I quickly change the topic and Viktor immediately sticks his head out of the window to breathe in the salty ocean air. “Careful, you wouldn’t want to lose your head.” I giggle softly. Viktor does not listen as he finds himself absorbed in the view. I find it endearing how the littlest and the most common of things seem to fascinate him.

I take a right where the road gives way to sand and park the car there. “Alright, we’re here!” Viktor immediately hops out of the car as soon as I turn off the engine and shifts out of his shoes to feel the sand between his bare toes.

“Woah, it looks kind of white,” Viktor comments as he crouches on the ground to pick at little shells and pebbles embedded within the sand.

“What color is the sand in your planet though?”

“It’s blue.”

“That’s amazing.” I find myself enthralled by the image of blue-sand beaches in my mind. “What about the water?”

“Purple.” He stands up from his crouch and rolls up the legs of his pants to his knees before wading into the cold water.

“Purple? Why is that?”

“It’s apparently due to a microorganism that turns purple upon contact with saltwater,” he explains as he kicks his feet into the water, enjoying himself. I take my shoes off and sit by the shoreline, the seawater soaking my feet.

“We have something similar here in earth too. There’s this lake that turns pink because of the microbes in it."

“Ah, earth is amazing.” He smiles at me brightly and holds his hand out to me from the water. “Anyway, join me?”

I roll up the legs of my pants and as I take his hand, he immediately pulls me into the water with him, nearly knocking both of us down. Luckily enough, he locks an arm around my waist and pulls me to his side before I hit the water.

“Woah, careful there.” I feel my heart quicken its pace as I feel the weight of his hand against my waist. “Are you okay?” I look up at him and from this angle, with the sun shining against his silver hair and his eyes glinting an ethereal blue glow, he looks like someone who fell from heaven. Well, he did, literally.  Before my face could give it away, I break away from his hold and maintain a close yet friendly distance with him.

“I am, thank you.” I smile at the painfully gorgeous creature before me.

“Oh, are you?” Viktor smirks at me as he bends down to cup his hands. Huh? Why is he smirking? Is he teasing me? Oh no, now I realize what he’s doing. He’s gonna—I feel a splash of water drench my face and clothes, leaving me soaked and chilly to the cool pre-autumn breeze.

“V-Viktor!” I shriek as I feel my wet clothes cling to my body. This is the time that I should enact my revenge. “How dare you!” I chase after him with the goal of making him pay his retribution but by then, he was already some ways away with the water reaching up his thighs. Wet clothes be damned, I wade into the water and shiver as the water creeps its way up my legs.

“Catch me if you can!” He taunts me playfully as he wades through the water, too quick for me to catch up. I take up his challenge and toss my glasses into the sand behind me and plunge myself into the water to swim after him. I open my eyes underwater and see Viktor’s blurry figure ahead. I immediately regret it as my eyes sting and get a grain of sand stuck in them.  As I rise towards the surface, I send up a big splash of water to enact my revenge.

“You thought you had me?!” I laugh-yelled as I send splash after splash towards him. He counters by doing the same. The battle rages on for a while until he finally raises his arms up in defeat.

“Okay, I lose!” He admits with a laugh as he pulls me by the arm and take me back to the shore with him.

“Oh, thank goodness.” I pick my glasses from where I tossed them on the sand and wipe the lenses against my wet shirt. “I thought it was never going to end,” I rub my eyes off the salt and sand before putting my glasses back on my face. “It’s getting really cold too,” I rub my arms against my side to fight off the chill from the breeze that was made only worse by the fact that my clothes were wet.

“But that was a lot of fun though,” Viktor lets out a cheerful laugh. “It’s been a while since I played with someone like that.”

“Won’t be so fun once you catch a cold.” I shake the water out of my hair and slick it back before walking back to the car. “Luckily, I always bring towels and extra clothes with me in the car.”

 I open the car and toss a towel to Viktor for him to dry up and close the door and roll up the windows so I can change into dry clothes. I towel my hair dry once I’m dressed and store my wet clothes inside a plastic bag. As soon as get out of the car and lay the towels out in the back to dry, he immediately mimics the exact clothes I’m wearing onto himself.

I sit down on a flat rock and stare out at the scenery behind me as Viktor sits beside me. He does the same in relative silence in contrast to his playful demeanor earlier. He looks to be contemplating something, his eyes pensive and focused wistfully against the distant horizon. Despite having only known him for a day, I feel like there was something else to him asides from his playful and bright exterior. The tiny hints of sadness in his eyes he showed last night and not long ago conveyed something more than I’m ever allowed to know at this moment. He sighs deeply and cranes his neck up and looks at the sky longingly with a slight purse to his lips as if he was searching for something he lost. Viktor glances at me briefly and then looks at the sand between his feet before closing his eyes for a moment. I recognize that look all too well. It’s exactly the look I make when I’m trying not to cry. Just what really is going on in his mind?

“Viktor…” I reach out to place a hand on his shoulder. “Are you okay?” He raises his head and he looks at me with eyes blurred with unshed tears and unspoken sadness.

“I’m okay, Yuuri.” He gives me a pained smile as he places his hand over mine on his shoulder.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah.” His smile was obviously fake and forced. I decide not press on just as he had with me back in the car. Maybe when we get to know each other well, then maybe we would get the chance to confide in each other.

For several minutes, we sit side by side together in silence, content in having each other’s company as the gulls overhead resound their cry against the gray-cast skies. The silence was broken when my stomach growled loudly, which made Viktor laugh.

“Hungry?” He asks with a chuckle.

“Yeah, I guess so.” My lips quirk up into a smile. “Do you want to get something for lunch?”

“Your treat then.” He nudges my side softly with his elbow.

“Of course. You’re my guest after all.”

And just like that, the heavy atmosphere between us was gone just as quickly as it had arrived.

I drove us to a ramen shop that I  frequent from time to time and smelled the familiar aroma of delicious broth and spices as soon as I stepped inside.

“Ah Yuuri-kun, it’s you!” Morooka, the shopkeeper greets me behind the counter as Viktor and I take a seat before it. “Oh, and who is this foreigner with you? You even have matching clothing!” He notes with a hearty laugh.

“Hello! My name is Viktor!” Viktor introduces himself in fluent Japanese much to Morooka’s pleasant surprise.

“Wow, you can speak Japanese?” He sprinkles some chopped spring onions on a bowl of ramen before serving it to the customer sitting beside us. “At least I won’t have to trouble myself in finding the right words to say in English.” He laughs.

“Viktor here is a guest at my place. He’ll be staying here in Hasetsu for a little while.”

“Well then, pleased to meet you Viktor!” Morooka shakes his hand enthusiastically. “I hope to see you around here more often!”

“Oh, you’ll see me around a lot, alright.” Viktor humors him as he let go of his hand.

“Anyway,” Morooka turns towards the both of us. “What will it be for today?”

“The usual, please.” I place the bills on a tray which he hands to the cashier.

“And how about you?” Morooka turns to Viktor, who was stuck on comprehending the menu card on the counter.

“I’ll just have what he’s having.”

“Alright, two bowls of Nagahama ramen coming up!” He heads to the kitchen in the back and leaves the counter with the cashier lady left to manage the front.

When our order was finished, Morooka places the bowl of delicious steaming hot ramen before us. “Enjoy your meal!” And then, he disappears back into the kitchen.

“Thank you,” I give him a small bow in thanks and pick up the provided chopsticks to slurp up the warm bowl of noodles. Viktor does the same and starts eating from his own bowl.

“Yuuri, this tastes so great!” He remarks, enjoying the food set before him.

I take hold up the sides of the bowl and blows at the broth and take a sip before I put the bowl back down. “This place serves the best ramen in all of Hasetsu.” I slurp a noodle into my mouth. “The food they serve here is bound to be delicious.”

“Mm!” Viktor continues eating his ramen and doesn’t speak at all until he finishes his bowl.

With our bellies full and warm, we head back inside the car.

“So where do you want to go next, Viktor?” I ask him as I start the engine.

“Anywhere you want.” He smiles at me brightly, his mood pleasant from finishing his bowl of ramen. “You know the place better than I do, after all.”

“Hmm…” I think for a bit on where to go next, listing off the good spots to go in Hasetsu in my head. “Let’s go to Hasetsu castle!”

“A castle? Do you think the local lord will be alright with us visiting all of a sudden?”

I let out a laugh at his remark, which left him rather dumbfounded. “It’s not an actual castle, Viktor,” I begin. “It’s just a ninja house made to look like a castle.”

“Ahh I see.” He laughs at his own mistake as I step on the pedal and drive towards said destination. “What’s a ninja?”

“I’ll explain to you when we get there.”

As I drive my way towards Hasetsu Castle, I take a longer alternate route to avoid passing by the former Hasetsu Ice Castle which had been shut down because of yours truly. Even until this time, it honestly still makes me feel guilty every time I pass by there no matter what Yuuko or Nishigori say to tell me otherwise. Since they closed down the rink and sold it to a businessman, it had long been converted into a convention center.

After travelling up the side of the mountain, I park the car and get Viktor and I entrance passes for a few yen before entering the premises.

Viktor looks around the surrounding area with quiet awe and observes the stone façade and the cherry trees whose leaves have turned red as summer made way for autumn. “Is this really where these ninjas you mentioned about live?”

“Yeah.” I nod. “They said that ninjas used to live here hundreds of years ago. Ninjas are basically undercover agents or mercenaries during feudal times.”

“So basically like assassins then?”

“Yeah, that’s right,” I reply. “Anyway, let’s head inside and look around.”

He follows behind me, saying hello to nearly everyone he sees as we make our way inside. We look at displays of ninja relics from the feudal era, with me acting as sort of a tour guide as I explain what I knew about the displays to Viktor, leaving him all the more fascinated about human culture. At one instance, he asks me what a thing he pointed at was only to tell him that it was a fire extinguisher. After a brief history lesson, I lead him to the balcony where we were greeted to a breath-taking bird’s-eye view of Hasetsu.

“Wow, it’s so beautiful from up here,” he remarks with delight as he takes in the panoramic view before him.  
“If you want, we can take a picture together against the backdrop,” I suggest as I pull my phone out of pocket. Might as well take a photo of his first day out exploring Hasetsu.

“Sure thing,” He takes my offer and flashes that charming smile at me.

I smile back at him and stand beside him against the backdrop to take a selfie of us together. He pulls me close and wraps an arm around my waist. I smile as best as I can in front of the camera despite the close contact.

I move away a bit after the selfie was taken and show him the picture. “You look great, Yuuri!”

“You look great too, Viktor.” I giggle and put a filter on the photo before slipping my phone back into my pocket. “Anyway, is there anywhere else you would like to go?”

“Yeah. Anywhere is fine though.”

“Well, why don’t we get some ice cream then?”

“I don’t know what that is but alright!”

We head out of Hasetsu Castle and drive back down to the city and enter a small café famous for its sweets and lattes. We sit by the window with Viktor seated across me curiously studying the menu items whose names he can’t read. Not minutes before we enter the café, a waitress dressed in pink approached our table side. “Good afternoon, sirs and welcome to AmaAma. May I take your order?”

“Ah, I’ll have a vanilla parfait, please.” The waitress writes down my order on her notepad before turning to Viktor, her face dusted with a shade of pink as she looks at him.

“What about you sir?” She asks with a wide, bright-eyed smile.

“I’ll have this pink thing,” Viktor points at a strawberry parfait from the menu. As expected, the waitress is astonished to hear him reply to her in Japanese and writes his order down on her notepad.

“Alright, so it’s one vanilla parfait and a strawberry parfait, right?” I nod and she sets down a small metal tray at the side of the table. “That would be 1000 yen all in all.”

I take my wallet out from my back pocket and pull out an embarrassingly soggy 1000-yen bill and place it on the tray. “I’m sorry, I got my wallet wet in the ocean you see,” I explain awkwardly as I fiddle with my thumbs beneath the table.

“Ah, it’s alright,” she assures me and chuckles. “Your order will be here shortly.” She takes the menu card from the table before bowing and briefly keeps her eyes focused on Viktor before leaving.

After she left, Viktor chuckles softly to himself. “I feel so bad for her for having to go through the trouble of flirting with me.”

“Why’s that?” I ask as the waitress takes our order to the counter.

“Let’s just say that my preference is on an entirely _different_ spectrum.” He props his elbow up against the table to rest his chin against his palm and _smirks_ at me.

I gulp and I feel my cheeks turn as pink as that girl’s dress.

After a while, the same waitress returns with our order. “Thank you for waiting!” She takes the parfait glasses from her tray and sets them on the table. “One vanilla parfait and one strawberry parfait!” She announces with a flourish before discretely slipping a piece of paper onto Viktor’s side of the table. “Enjoy your food!” And just like that, she leaves the table and goes off to serve another customer.

Just as Viktor picks up his spoon to start eating his parfait, he picks up the slip of paper on the table and studies it. “What’s this? Are these coordinates?”

“Oh, that’s her phone number.” I take a scoop of melt-in-the-mouth vanilla ice cream. Truly the most underrated of ice cream flavors. “I think she wants you to call her so you can talk.”

“Oh, poor girl.”  He chuckles and places the slip of paper back on the table. “How do you write, ‘I’m sorry, but I’d like to be your friend though!’ in your language?” Viktor hands me the paper and I borrow a pen from the customer seated behind us. I write the characters on the paper and hand it back to Viktor for him to leave on the table when we leave.

We eat our parfaits in relative comfort as we trade little tidbits of information about each other and each other’s cultures until we emptied the glasses. For one, I learned that Viktor can shape shift into anything that’s not bigger than him, but chooses to only shapeshift clothes on himself for some reason. In addition to that, he told me that he can’t exactly change his appearance to match that of another person’s.

“So Viktor, do you only glow at night?” I ask him as our conversation continues inside the car. “Because when you grabbed my hand in the beach, I didn’t really see your hand glow blue unlike last night.”

“Yeah, I only glow when touched when it’s night time.” He slumps comfortably against his seat.

“That’s cool,” I reply in astonishment. “But why exactly do you glow though?”

“That’s because the cells in my body react to touch and converts that mechanical energy into light.” He sounds like a power generator. “Scientists in my planet said that it served as an evolutionary tool millions of years ago so our ancestors could find each other in the dark when lost.”

“But won’t glowing in the dark attract predators?”

“Every trait has its downsides.” Viktor laughs softly.

As we finally got back to the farm house, we watch a few movies in the living room before the sun set and it was time for me to make dinner. After we eat dinner in front of the television, we lounge together on the couch with Viktor free to change the channels as he see fits. Apparently, even their televisions back at his home planet are similar to those here. Before we end up staying up too late watching television, I tell him that it’s time get some sleep and get ready for the day tomorrow.

“I had a lot of fun today, Yuuri,” he smiles at me as I lay out a futon on the floor for me to sleep on. “It’s been a while since I had so much fun like that.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it, Viktor,” I smile back at him earnestly. “To be honest, I had a lot of fun myself too. I don’t really go out much with someone so that was really something.”

Viktor sits up on the edge of the bed and takes my hand in his and places it on his lap, his palm glowing a faint blue as our skin makes contact with each other. “You’re so fun to be around, Yuuri.” He laughs softly. “I hope that we’ll only grow closer soon.”

“Me too, Viktor,” I smile despite the blush on my face. “I hope to become close to you too.” And I mean it. I don’t know how big the past he carries might be, or in how much pain he may on the inside. After seeing just a glimpse of his sadness, I knew. It’s something I know all too well. I only hope that I could get to know him soon, that we may open up to each other then maybe I could help him relieve that sadness even if it’s just only for a little while. I rub my thumb softly against his hand, letting the blue glow linger against his skin, much to his content. I slip my hand away from his and give it a pat before crouching on the floor to slip myself underneath my futon.

“Anyway, let’s get some sleep now, shall we?” I lay out a blanket over myself and fluff up my pillow before lying down. Viktor lies down on the bed and turns his body to the right to face me.

“Good night, Viktor.” I smile at him faintly as he tucks himself underneath the covers.

“Good night, Yuuri.” He returns my smile before closing his eyes to sleep.

* * *

 

 For some reason, I can’t sleep at all tonight. I keep tossing and turning on my futon to change positions to no avail. I check the clock on the wall and find out that it had been three hours ever since I tucked myself in. I try to close my eyes and even my breathing to get that much-needed sleep but to no avail. I slip out of my futon to get myself some milk so I could sleep better. Viktor had turned himself to the left at some point during the past three hours wrapping his arms around a pillow.

 

 

As I make my way through the door, I notice a lone tear roll down his cheek.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 1.)PSIA-Public Security Intelligence Agency-basically Japan's version of M16. It is a national agency tasked with the role of internal security and espionage against threats to national Japanese security, which is in this case, aliens.  
> 2.)Pink Lake-Yep, a pink lake does exist here on earth! Lake Hiller is located in Australia and the cause of is color is because of extremophilic bacteria reacting to high concentrations of salt int he water  
> 3.)AmaAma- basically a pun on kanji. 天(ama) means heaven and 甘(ama) is sweet so although not gramatically correct, it literally means sweet heaven or heaven's sweetness or something like that
> 
> woooh boi another chapter out and we get to know more about the characters! (and yuuri's blood pressure steadily rises!)  
> thank you so much for taking the time to read this! :D  
> If you liked what you read, please take the time to leave a like or kudos! It would be greatly appreciated. :D <3
> 
> If you want to talk to me or see me shit post, follow me on twitter [@chattoyant_zee](https://twitter.com/chattoyant_zee)


	3. Chapter 3

After a week or so since Viktor started living with me, I slowly started getting accustomed to, if not at all completely used to him constantly touching me. If he’s not touching me, then he’s either looking at me or smirking at me as if he’s _flirting_ with me. Him being so affectionate never fails to make my blood rush to my cheeks and my mind to short-circuit, leading me to temporarily lose my current train of thought. Not that I’m complaining, to be honest. Just his very touch or the look he throws my way is enough to send a sense of thrill throughout my mind and body. The last time I ever felt something like this was when I confessed to someone I liked in high school. Throughout the past week that he has started living with me, I’ve grown fond of him. I only wonder if how he’s always teasing me means if he feels the same or I’m just reading into it too much. Right now, Viktor and I are seated on the couch watching noontime television with him leaning against me and his arms wound casually around my waist. With remote in one hand, I raise the other to run my fingers through those silvery strands of hair absently just to see how they would feel like beneath my hand. Viktor hums in contentment and leans into my touch more.

“I like that, Yuuri,” he says. “It’s nice to see you returning my touch.” Viktor practically _purrs._

“Oh—“I blush and draw my hand away from his hair, to which he visibly pouts at. “I-I just wanted to see how your hair feels like.”

At the mention of this, Viktor gasps and shoots his hand up to run his hands through his hair. “Oh no, Yuuri! Is my hair thinning out?”

“What?”

“Ah, I can’t take this.” He unwinds his arm around as he moves away from me and sulks at the other end of the couch. “You wound me, Yuuri,” he groans.

“N-N-No, Viktor, you got it all wrong!” I panic and start flailing my arms about frantically in front of me. I lean towards him and place my hand against his shoulder. It seems that he’s sensitive about his looks after all. “Viktor, I thought…” I start, and a faint blush dusts my cheeks. “I thought it was really pretty.”

Viktor sits up on the chair, looking visibly recovered from his sulking just a few seconds ago. “You think so?” He looks like a child that had been praised for doing something good.

“Y-Yeah.” I continue. “It’s not only that too,” I start mumbling as I cast my eyes down to look at him through my lashes. My heart starts beating quickly. “You’re very beautiful. You look almost too good to be real…” I trail off and avert my eyes away from him, unable to look at him face to face due to the embarrassment.

“Oh, Yuuri.” Viktor chuckles much to my relief and he tilts my chin up with his fingers to make my head turn towards him. “I was only kidding.” He snorts before breaking out into laughter.

“V-Viktor!” As if I wasn’t feeling embarrassed before, the embarrassment I felt only doubled up. “H-How could you!”

“You’re so cute, Yuuri,” he croons as he drags his finger up the side of my cheek. “Especially when you get all red like this.” He chuckles again. Viktor apparently finds me getting all flustered amusing.

“You’re so mean.” I narrow my eyes and look elsewhere. His hand is on my head now, his fingers carding through my hair with the other resting casually against my thigh. “Why do you like touching me so much?”

Viktor smiles at me faintly. “Because it makes me feel calm.” He continues stroking my hair and suddenly uses his other hand to push me towards him. I prop my chin up against the crook of his nape and breathe in his scent. He smells like the exact brand of shampoo that I use. I crane my head down and bury my face against his chest so he won’t have to see how red my face is and give him another reason to tease me again. Viktor sighs deeply before continuing as if in deep thought. “It gives me a sense of comfort.” His hand travels down my waist and he keeps it there. “It makes me feel…safe.”

Viktor takes his hands off me and I sit up straight to face him, with my face still burning hot.

“Does that bother you?” He asks.

“It does, sometimes,” I answer honestly, and I see his shoulders slump. “But if it makes you feel comfortable, then I wouldn’t mind…”

His mood noticeably shifts as his eyes brighten and his lips curve into that heart-shaped smile. “So does that mean I can sleep beside you now—“

“No.” I turn my face away from him.

“Yuuuri…” He whines.

Having to sleep in the same bed as him would be too stimulating for me. I don’t think I’m ready for something such as that yet. I take the remote and switch the TV off before putting a jacket on and heading towards the door. “I’m going to tend to the farm now.”

“I’ll come with!” He gets off the chair and shifts the same jacket in black before heading out of the house with me.

 It’s finally autumn now. I’ve only got a few months left to plant whatever crops can grow in this weather before winter comes. At this point, I’ve already moved the animals to the barn or they might get sick from the cold. I head to the shed to get some seeds with Viktor following behind me.

“Ah, Yuuri, can I help out?” He helps me gather some tools lying around in the shed.

“Sure, but do you know how to do this?” I don’t even know if they do farming the same way back in his planet.

“Are you underestimating me, Yuuri?” He chuckles as he swings a rake over his shoulder. “I’ll have you know that I’m very versatile.”

“Well in that case.” I hand him three packs of seeds. “I want you to plant those seeds in those plant boxes over there.” I point at said objects beside the barn. “When these sprout, we’re going to transfer the seedlings into the main plot of land.”

“Alright. But how about you? What are you going to do?”

“I’ll feed the cows and chickens.” I take a pitchfork from the shed and shut the door behind me as I head out. “Anyway, I’ll head to the barn now. Be careful not to crowd the seeds too much, all right?”

“Will do,” Viktor replied with a smile on his face. “Is there anything else you want me to do?”

“Hmm…” I place a finger against my chin. “After you’re done planting, why don’t you come help me out in the barn? I also have to clean up after I finish feeding them.”

“Sure thing.”

“Anyway, I’ll going to the barn now. Call me if you need any help, alright?”

“Don’t worry, rest assured that I know what I’m doing.” He assures me confidently.

“Alright then, if you say so.” I chuckle and then wave at him as I head to the barn. There, I fed all four cows with hay and thirteen chickens with feed. After all the animals are fed, I head out for a bit to go check on how Viktor is doing. All seed packs have been empty and discarded to the side, with Viktor standing over a plant box watering the newly-planted seeds.

“See, Yuuri? I told you I knew what I was doing.” He lets out a light-hearted laugh.

“Wow, I was wrong about you all along,” I chuckle and scratch the back of my head. “By the way, how did you learn how to do this? Is farming done the same way back in your planet?”

“Well, when it comes to large-scale farming, the crops are planted horizontally on tall racks to save space and are periodically kept in a climate-controlled environment. But when it comes to its most basic form, though, it’s done exactly the way it’s done here on earth.”

“Wow, that’s amazing.”

“I know right?” He chuckles. “It’s crazy how so much things are different yet the same at the same time between our planets. It only makes me wonder if we were one race at some point.” He ponders for a bit. Perhaps he’s been watching too much Ancient Aliens. It’s kind of funny how an actual alien watches a show about said aliens. He moves to another plant box and starts watering it.

“What made you take up farming, Yuuri?”

“Well…” I sigh, recalling the memories that led me to my current life. “After I quit skating, we heard news that my uncle had passed away with no one to take care of his farm so I decided to take it upon myself to take care of the farm,” I explain. “How about you? Do you have some experience in the past regarding farming?”

“Well…” Viktor begins. “Back when rations were tight back in my planet, we were encouraged to grow our own food since the prices had gone up.”

“Rations? You mean there was a war back in your planet?” I ask.

“There still is until now.” He purses his lips and smiles at me wistfully. “But don’t let that bother you.” It was clear that he didn’t want to elaborate more on the topic. “Every place has some conflict at some point, doesn’t it?” He chuckles.

“You’re right. Even earth has had its fair share of conflict in the past. Even until now, there are places in the world where people are suffering.”

“I guess you were right then.” Viktor chuckles. It sounded forced. “Earth isn’t as much of a peaceful place I thought it to be.”

“But it doesn’t have to be that way.” I smile at him gently. I place my hand against his arm and see him visibly relax. “Right now, we’re living somewhere that was lucky enough to be spared from war. Why don’t we just make the best out of the peace that we have right now?”

“Well, I guess you’re right about that,” Viktor smiles back at me. “I did come to earth in the first place to live a peaceful life. But sometimes, I can’t help but miss the very place I came from.”

“It’s only normal to think that way, Viktor,” I assure him. “It may all be in the past, but there’s no changing the memories you made and the wonderful people you met along the way.” I recall all the memories I built, both good and bad with the people I met along the way in my career as a competitive figure skater. My defeat was crushing and I feel ashamed at myself to this day for letting everyone who believed in me down. Despite that, however, it was because of skating that I got to experience so much things I’ve never even thought possible and met so many people that changed my life. Some of which even remain my friends to this day. Viktor looks at me and gives me a smile torn between sadness and contentment.

“Now that I think about it,” He pauses for a bit and takes my hand in his. “There’s been so much things that pain me to remember even until now, but…I’m glad that I met you, Yuuri.”

I feel myself fluster at my heart beat faster. “I’m glad that I met you too, Viktor.” I smile back at him shyly and look at our joined hands before threading my fingers between the gaps of his. Viktor blushes much to my surprise before letting out a hearty giggle.

“You’re really kind, Yuuri.” Viktor runs his thumb gently against my hand before slowly unlacing his fingers from mine. “Anyway, you wanted me to help out in the barn, right?”

“Yeah.” I smile at him faintly as I curl the tips of my fingers inward to my palm, relishing in that ghost of a sensation from when our hands joined. “We’ll just clean up and then have a break when we’re done.” I walk towards the barn with him following behind me. When I turn my head to look back at him, I feel my heart beat faster than it ever did before.

As we get inside the barn, I take a push broom and a dust pan for myself and hand one of each to Viktor. I take a trash bag from the side and hand one to him as well. “Okay, now this might be a little nasty.” I laugh as I see Viktor crinkle his nose at the smell of animal droppings in the barn.

“Nothing I can’t handle,” he boasts. “I have been in far smellier situations.”

“Oh, have you?”

“Oh, you wouldn’t want to know, Yuuri.” He snorts as he heads to where the chickens were and starts sweeping the chicken droppings off the floor and gathers them up in the dust pan before tipping the contents over into the plastic bag. I see him cringe and lose his confident act the moment said chicken shit fell into the bag with a wet plop.

“Oh, do tell me, Viktor,” I let out a laugh as I start cleaning up after the cows.

“When I was a soldier,” Viktor starts as he continues cleaning up after the chickens. The birds, clucking at him whenever he passes by. “We had to sneak through sewer tunnels to sneak up on enemies.”

“Wow, you were a soldier?” I tilt my head to look at him as I clear up the floors and tip the contents of the pan into the bag for fertilizer use later. I learn something new about Viktor all the while as we’re sweeping animal excrement off the floor.

“Yeah, I was.” A chicken hops out of its nest and clucks angrily at him for having stepped on its foot accidentally, to which he mutters a quick apology.  “Our commander thought up of sneaking through the sewers so we wouldn’t be caught in enemy fire. It was smelly, but it worked.”

“Must be really tough being a soldier, huh?” I blurt out instead of asking him the obvious of why he went all the way to earth when there’s a war raging back on his planet. I figure that it must be too sore of a spot in his memory to tread on.

“Oh, you can’t even begin to imagine.” Viktor groans. “Every day we get little to no sleep and our meals are infrequent. Imagine doing that while having to fight someone off.” He sighs and pauses in his movements to pet a chicken that had come up to him, ruffling its feathers as it pecked at his hand. There’s that sad, distant look in his eyes again and yet the corners of his lips are curled into a faint smile.

I’ve heard stories from soldiers on the internet who came back from war to retell all of the horrible experiences they’ve had. A lot even come back home as completely different people compared to before they’ve seen war first-hand. I can only imagine what pain they’ve had to go through fighting through every single day just to survive. As for Viktor, however, I begin to wonder how he still remains so cheery and charming despite it all. He’s quiet now as he resumes his work and leaves our conversation from where it stopped. I think he doesn’t want to delve deeper into it yet. I understand and yet I want to know more. We continue our work in relative silence and it’s only when we head out of the barn that I speak up.

“Viktor, were you alright back there?” I ask him out of concern. “When we were talking in the bar, you suddenly spaced out and stayed silent for a while.”

“Yeah, Yuuri,” he replies with a faint smile on his lips. “It’s just that a lot of memories I’d rather forget suddenly came to me.” He sighs.

“I’m sorry,” I apologize and let out a huff. “It’s my fault for leading the conversation to where it reminded you of things. I’m really good at making things go awkward even with something as simple as a conversation.” I chuckle awkwardly as I scratch the back of my head.

“It’s not your fault, Yuuri.” Viktor assures me and laughs softly as he gives my shoulder a pat. “You didn’t know, after all.”

He’s right. I really don’t know. “Viktor.” I stop in my tracks and drop the bag as I turn to face him. “If there’s something bothering me, you’ll tell me, won’t you? You don’t have to tell me everything all at once. If you’re hurting, then I at least want to make you feel a little better.” I take his hand in mine and when I look at him, he’s wide-eyed. “It’s the least I can do for you.”

“Oh, Yuuri.” He smiles at me as his eyes start welling up with tears. “You’ve done so much for me already.” He slips his hand away from mine and he pulls me close as he locks his arms around me in a tight embrace. “I want to do the same for you too.” He cups the side of my face with his hand and I lean into his touch to relish in the warmth against my skin. “It’s the least I can do for you.”

My lips twitch into a smile and I reach out to wipe the tears off his face. Even when crying, he’s still so unfairly beautiful. That moment, I knew. I knew that from now on, I want to treasure Viktor as part of my life for as long as he’ll stay with me. I feel myself beginning to tear up as I feel my heart threatening to burst at this flood of emotions overflowing all at once.

“Stay here then.” I wrap my arms around him and bury my face against his chest as I feel the tears stream down. I’m happy and yet I’m afraid all at once.

“I don’t think I can bring myself not to, Yuuri.” His voice is soft and smooth as he runs his fingers through my hair. Does he feel the same? “Not when this place has become my home now.”

As I raise my head to look at him, he leaves a peck against my forehead.

I feel myself go red up to my shoulders. “You stink.” I swat him away with a chuckle.

“So do you.” He laughs and gently breaks free of the hug to pick his bag up from the ground.

“Let’s take care of these first before we head back inside the house.” I pick up my manure-filled bag from the ground and head to the manure pit where I’d fallen into the week before. Romantic.

After all that has been settled, we head back inside the house to wash up and settle back on the couch watching whatever shows happen to air at the moment. At one point, the TV showed a couple passionately making out on a couch. Before any of us could get any ideas, I switch the channel with my face turning a slight pink. Just as the sun had set Viktor and I went back outside to water the seeds again and head back inside for dinner. Just as I was about to wash the dishes, Yuuko gives me a phone call asking if it’s okay if she and the kids would come visit tomorrow. Naturally, I said yes and looked forward to her coming over tomorrow. I’d also have to introduce them to Viktor too. As the clock ticks into the late hours of the night, we decide to call it a day and get some sleep.

* * *

 

“Good morning, Yuuri-kun!” Yuuko greets me as she enters the house with her triplets in tow. “I didn’t come in too early, did I?” Immediately, Axel, Lutz and Loop run towards me.

“Oh, no, you came just in time!” I chuckle as the triplets surround me. Just three years ago, they were so little but now, they’ve grown so much.

“Yuuri, you’ve lost some weight!” Lutz comments as she pats my stomach for any sign of pudge, to which I laugh at awkwardly.

“Yeah, no kidding!” Loop exclaims.

“Yuuri used to be so chubby especially after competitions.” Axel laughs upon recalling my pudgy state in the past. “Minako even had to get you on a diet to make you lose that extra weight.”

“Girls, stop bothering Yuuri!” Their mother scolds them to which the triplets go running off to the couch to pick up the remote and start watching some TV. “I’m really sorry about that, Yuuri, they’re such a handful.” Yuuko sighs.

“Oh, no, it’s alright, really,” I wave it off. “It’s really nice to have you and the girls visit.” I let out a chuckle. “By the way, shouldn’t you be looking after the store by now?”

“Ah, actually, we had to close down for the day for some…renovations.” Yuuko lets out an awkward laugh. “Those little brats brought a mouse they found into the store and now it’s infested with mice.” Her shoulders slump at the thought. “So Takeshi had to call in the exterminator.”

“Must be really tough being a mom, isn’t it?”

“Yeah, especially if you have kids who won’t listen half the time,” Yuuko blurts out laughing.

Then, I hear the door to my room creak open and out comes Viktor to hug me from behind playfully. “Good morning, Yuuri!”

“Yuuri!” Yuuko practically screams. “Who is this hot guy?!” As if their mother’s screams alerted them, the triplets hop off the couch and run to the site of the commotion.

“Woah, Yuuri, did you catch yourself a hot guy?” Axel smirks at me smugly.

“Not to mention they’re wearing the same shirt too.” Lutz adds with a nod.

“And a foreigner too!” Loop snickers at me.

“W-W-Wait, you guys got it all wrong!” I sputter as I remove myself from Viktor’s hold. “This is Viktor, and he’s having trouble finding a place to live in so he’s staying with me for the time being!”

“Yeah, right, he’s staying with you,” Loop pokes me as she snickers. “And such sex appeal, even.”

“You kids are nine where did you even learn that word?!” I shriek. “A-Anyway!” I take in a deep whiff off air and try to calm myself down. “Why don’t we just introduce each other then?"

“Nice to meet you, my name is Viktor!” Viktor practically beams as he takes Yuuko’s hand and shakes it, to which she turns red and renders immobile for a bit.

“Are you Yuuri’s boyfriend?” Lutz casually asks him.

“Well, I—“

“N-No!” I start stuttering as I feel my entire body go red-hot. “He’s not my boyfriend!”

“Have you ever kissed Yuuri?” Axel asks him with the enthusiasm of a ten-year-old.

“Yes, yesterday, I—“Without even letting Viktor finish his sentence, the triplets squeal as they stomp their feet together excitedly.

“Yuuri’s got a boyfriend!” The three of them all yell excitedly. “Minako should know about this!” Loop shouts out.

Knowing Minako, she’d probably take what the triplets said seriously and then pass it on to my family. Oh, that would be really embarrassing if they thought Viktor was my boyfriend. I mean, I may or may not like him, but the thought of it makes me feel so embarrassed!

“Girls!” Yuuko snaps out of her I-just-met-a-hot-guy-trance. “Stop bothering poor Yuuri, just look at him!” Yuuko points at me. At this point, I’m too embarrassed to even show just how red my face is, which Viktor somehow finds amusing as he laughs at me in the background.

“Yuuri, you’re so cute!” He blurts out. It only encourages the triplets even further. Axel takes her mother’s phone from her pocket and indiscreetly takes a picture of me beside Viktor.

“Hey, you!” Yuuko shrieks and snatches her phone away from her daughter’s grabby hands. “Don’t touch my phone without my permission!” Axel sulks and walks away to sit on the floor.

“Anyway, Yuuri-kun, I’m really sorry for all the trouble,” Yuuko apologizes with a sigh. “Are you feeling alright?”

“Yes.” My face is burning hot, I feel embarrassed and dizzy, and the risk of that rumor spreading to my family is imminent.  Of course I’m alright. Yuuko hummed and didn’t buy my answer.

“Come on girls, apologize to Yuuri.” She nudges her children towards me. “You’ve caused him more than enough trouble already,” she scolds.

The three both sigh in unison. “Sorry for causing you trouble, Yuuri, we won’t tell anyone about this.” I hear an unsaid “probably” at the end of the sentence.

I let out a relieved sigh as I slowly calm myself down. “It’s alright,” I crack the best smile I could without looking awkward. Knowing them, they’ll probably break their promise anyway.

“Anyway, Yuuri.” Yuuko hands a small package wrapped in cloth to me. “I stopped by the hot springs today and your mother told me to hand this to you. It’s pickled vegetables and a bento box with katsudon.”

“Thank you, Yuuko-chan!” I excitedly unwrap it to reveal the bento box and the jar of pickles. I could smell the delicious scent of my mother’s home cooking wafting through the air. “I’ll make sure to thank her!”

“Alright, Yuuri!” Yuuko giggles.

“Ah anyway, I’m so sorry to have kept you waiting.” I place the bento box and the jar on the coffee table. “Would you like to have something to eat?”

“Sure!” Yuuko and Axel, Lutz and Loop happily follow me to the dining table.

“Yuuko’s really nice, isn’t she?” Viktor comments with a chuckle and waves as we see Yuuko and her triplets off. After a long day of offering to help out in the farm and getting to know one another, they decided to go back to the convenience store an hour after noon. The whole time, though, the triplets kept gawking at Viktor and kept saying things nine-year-olds shouldn’t say.

“She sure is.” I chuckle back as I watch her get inside her car with her kids and drive off.

“You know, Yuuri.” Viktor says. “I wouldn’t mind being your boyfriend.” His voice dropped an octave into something smooth and velvety as he wraps an arm around my shoulder to bring me close to his side.

I shudder.

* * *

 

The next afternoon, as I was cleaning the barn, I felt that something was off. When I check up on the chickens, I see that one of them is not moving. My heartbeat quickens and my mouth begins to go dry as I pick up the unmoving chicken. Its eyes are glazed over and cloudy and its legs and wings are cold and limp. Upon realizing that the poor creature is dead, I feel myself shudder and start sobbing as I press the chicken up against my chest.

“Yuuri?” Viktor approaches me with concern on his face.

“V-Viktor…” I mutter between sobs. “It’s dead…” I bow my head as my fingers caress its little head. “And it’s all my fault.”

“Oh, Yuuri.” Viktor crouches beside me and wraps an arm around my shoulder. I bury my face against his chest, wetting his shirt with my tears. “You know that it’s not your fault.” He threads his fingers through my hair.

“N-No, of course it’s mine…” I choke out between sobs. “I should have noticed what was wrong before it was all too late…” It’s happening again. This is just like the time that Vicchan died and I wasn’t even around to be with him. “It was sick….and I didn’t do anything.”

“I’m so sorry, Yuuri,” Viktor tries to soothe me as he holds me closer. He remains quiet and rubs circles against my back as I cried my eyes out for something that I could’ve prevented.   

After Viktor convinces me to get up, we head out of the barn together and made a makeshift grave for the chicken at the back of the barn. Viktor and I lay some flowers atop the grave and I mutter a small prayer before I sigh and sit on the ground with my head propped up against Viktor’s shoulder. My eyes are probably puffy and swollen by now. Viktor gives me a look that’s something between pity and empathy. There was a hint of sadness in his eyes again. Given that he has lived through things far worse than my own experiences of loss, he probably knows a thing or two about mourning himself.

The next day, I call the veterinarian over to check on the other chickens and see if they’re sick. It’s the least I can do to avoid making the same mistake again.

“Katsuki-san.” Kawaguchi Jun, a middle-aged man with greying temples approaches me with a clip board in his hand. “I’m afraid that the prognosis doesn’t look very good.” He says regretfully.

I purse my lips at the news and wring my hands out behind my back. “Is there something to be done about it?” I manage to at least not let my voice crack despite how anxious and afraid I am.

“Of course, Katsuki-san.” Kawaguchi nods and I breathe a sigh of relief. “I can take the chickens to my clinic and see what my staff and I can do.”

“Please do.”

“That would require an additional fee, however.” He adds.

“I’ll take care of the costs.” I say. “Please do whatever it takes to save them, doctor.” I plead as I give him a deep bow.

“Now, now, there’s no need for that,” he chuckles and motions for me to straighten my back. “Since you’ve been consulting me for years now, why don’t I give you a discount?”

“But doctor, I really don’t want to cause you such trouble.”

“Oh, it’s alright, really.” He lets out a hearty laugh. “Think of it as a perk for being a loyal patient.”

“Thank you so much, Kawaguchi-sensei.” I give him a modest bow.

“Oh, it’s nothing really.” He waves off with a chuckle. “Anyway, why don’t you help me put the chickens in carriers?”

“I’ll help.” Viktor appears from the kitchen and rushes off to my side.

“Ah, and who might this be? He seems to understand Japanese too.” Kawaguchi comments.

“Oh, this is Viktor,” I introduce him and Viktor takes the doctor’s hand to shake it. “He’s going to be staying here for a little while.”

“Ah, I see then.” Kawaguchi says. “Nice to meet you, Viktor. My name is Kawaguchi Jun.”

“Nice to meet you too, doctor,” Viktor replies.

“Anyway, shall we head down to the barn now?”

I nod and Viktor and I lead him back to the barn to put the chickens in a carrier. I take animal carriers from a shelf inside the barn and hand one each to Kawaguchi and Viktor. I crouch before the chicken nests and start putting them inside the carrier, the birds squawking as I place them one by one inside. My hand instinctively reaches for a nest to the left. When I find that it’s empty of its previous occupant, I feel my heart drop. Fighting back the tears threatening to spill out, I take in a deep breath and continue placing the chickens in the carrier in relative silence. After everyone was done with the job, we each carry an animal carrier out of the barn, the chickens clucking as each of us place it in the back of Kawaguchi’s pick-up truck.

“Alright, that’s the last of them,” Kawaguchi blurts out as he wipes his hands on his lap. He fishes for the keys from his back pocket and opens the front door of his pick-up. “Anyway, Katsuki-san, I’ll come call you if something comes up, alright?”

“Alright.” I don’t know whether to dread the call or look forward to it.

“Don’t you worry.” He smiles at me faintly. “We’ll do our best to take care of the animals.” Somehow, his assurance does little to even calm my nerves down.

“Thank you very much, Kawaguchi-sensei.” I give him a slight bow before handing reaching into my wallet in my back pocket and handing him the fee for his services.

“Just doing my job, Katsuki-san.” Kawaguchi takes the money with a bow and puts it in his jacket pocket. “Anyway, Katsuki-san, Viktor. I’ll be taking my leave now.” He bows again and I do the same while Viktor waves at him. He gets inside his pick-up track and starts the engine before driving off to his clinic.

* * *

 

As I’m making dinner, I feel my body grow heavy as if multiple weights are strapped to my arms and legs. I shrug it off and pass it off as fatigue from working on the farm plus the emotional stress I just experienced. I continue stirring the soup in the pot. I can barely smell whatever I’m cooking. As my vision grows blurry and my head starts spinning, I knock the pot off the stove with my hand as my legs give out beneath me and the hot soup burns my arm. As the pot falls down on the floor with a loud clatter, so do I. I hiss at the pain in my arm and groan as I feel my body heat up and my vision turn to black.

When I strain to open my eyes, I see that I’m on my bed with a wet rag on my forehead and my right arm numb and cold as Viktor holds an ice pack to it.

“Oh, you’re awake.” Viktor smiles at me as sets the ice pack aside and takes the rag off my forehead to soak it in cold water before placing it back again. I let out a soft groan as I feel the cold press against my burning skin.

“What happened?” I ask, my voice raspy.

“You fainted in the kitchen while you were cooking.” Viktor pats the ice pack against the burn on my arm. “You burned yourself too.”

“I can see that.” I blink slowly and sigh as I feel my body grow heavier as I sink into the mattress. “I think I caught bird flu.” I cough and Viktor hands me a glass of water to drink from. “Thanks.”

“By the way.” I shift on my position on the bed and turn to face Viktor. The rag on my forehead slips a bit and Viktor puts it back in place. “Where did you learn how to take care of a sick human?”

“Ah, I remembered this part of a show we watched wherein this girl tends to her boyfriend when he’s sick so I followed what she did.” He chuckles and gives me a look that I can’t exactly pinpoint.

“Ah.” I feel myself blush at the association.

“Oh, and by the way, I didn’t know which medicine to give you so I just got all that I found from the fridge.” Viktor gestures to the nightstand beside me and surely enough, there were pill bottles, foils and syrups on it.

“Thank you, Viktor.” I smile at him faintly and sit up on the bed as I take a bottle of ibuprofen and pop one into my mouth and push it back with some water. If I really did catch bird flu, then it probably won’t do much. “Wow, I feel terrible.” I huff as I take the wet rag and place it back on my forehead as I lay back down. My muscles ache and my body feels like a ten-ton truck run me over. Not only that, but my throat feels drier than hell itself and my head feels like it had been pounded repeatedly against a wall. “Viktor…” I groan and I don’t even bother tilting my head to the side to look at him. Without warning, I feel the sour acrid taste of bile rise up to the back of my throat as I jerk up and empty the contents of my stomach on the just-washed comforter. Immediately, Viktor takes the wet rag that had fallen off from my forehead and gingerly wipes the puke from my face.

“Yuuri, I really think you need to go to the doctor.” His face was contorted in worry despite having to clean up my barely digested-lunch off my face. He sets the rag aside and rolls up the comforter with a wet squelch before setting it down on the floor.

“Y-Yeah…” I mumble weakly as he helps me out of my soiled shirt and hands me a new one to put on. Even lifting my arms feels like such a hard task as I slide my arms into the sleeves and put the shirt on. With hands that can barely stay still, a reach out to the nightstand to pick my phone up and call an ambulance. At this right, I don’t think I can even drive myself to the hospital without the risk of crashing into things.

The ambulance arrives in less than ten minutes and I’m driven off to the nearest hospital with Viktor seated along with the medics at the back, holding my hand tightly as his figure turns into blurry blobs of color before my vision grows completely dark.

When I wake up, it was to a heavy weight shifting on my lap. I strain to open my eyes against the blinding hospital lights and find that I’m in a hospital bed with an IV on my left hand. And apparently, Viktor fell asleep with his face buried directly against my crotch. I (and something else) immediately jolt upright in surprise, waking Viktor up.

“Ah, Yuuri, you’re awake!” He immediately jumps at me and wraps his arms tightly around me and he accidentally nudges at the IV on my hand, earning him a hiss. He recoils as if he had burnt himself and unwinds his arms as quickly as it went around me and looks at me apologetically. “Are you alright, Yuuri?” His hand cradles my cheek gently. His fingers glow a pale blue as he strokes it tenderly.

“Yeah.” I sigh as he puts his hand down to rest it against my lap. “Not great, but better.”

“You know, Yuuri, you really had me worried there.” Viktor huffs. “I was worried that something bad was going to happen to you.”

“Give me more credit, Viktor.” I let out a soft laugh. “I’m tougher than I look.”

“Well, you did carry me to the house when you first found me in the forest,” Viktor replies with a chuckle. “Was I heavy?”

“Kind of.” I clearly remember my knees nearly buckling beneath me at carrying his near six-foot frame. “It’s not easy carrying someone as tall as you.”

“Well, if you want, Yuuri, when we go home from the hospital, I can carry you all the way to the car.” Viktor happily offers.

“There are wheelchairs for that, Viktor,” I reply in a deadpan voice. Come to think of it, I actually do like the idea. I feel the corners of my lips twitch into a smile and my cheeks softly turning into a shade of pink.

“Ah, Yuuri, where you thinking about me carrying you?” There’s that heart-shaped smile of his again as he leans his face in towards me. “Yuuri, you’re so cute when your face says otherwise!” he teases as he pokes my cheek. I swat his hand away, to which he pouts at.

I press my palms to my reddened face and emit a sound that could only be described as belonging to a dying whale.

_Ring ring._

I take my hands off my face and look to the right where my phone is placed on the night stand beside the bed. I pick it up and see that Dr. Kawaguchi is calling.

“Hello?” I say as soon as I receive the call.

“Ah, Katsuki-san!” He says on the other line. “I’ve checked up on the chickens and they all seem to be in relatively good condition.”

“That’s so good to hear!” I feel a sense of relief wash over me upon the good news. “Thank you so much, Kawaguchi-sensei!”

“Ah, no, no, I’m only doing my job, Katsuki-san.” He laughs. “By the way, when we examined some of the chickens, we found that they exhibited symptoms of bird flu.” Ah.

 “I’ve already administered medicine to them and they’ll remain in the clinic for observation until their condition has improved. Bird flu can spread to humans so until then, please be on the lookout for symptoms on yourself.”

Well I suppose it’s too late for that now. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welp here's to another chapter of yuuri's blood pressure slowly meeting its inevitable death and the the same time we get to know a little bit more about viktor!
> 
> If you liked what you read, leaving a kudos and comment would be greatly appreciated! :D
> 
> If you want to be up-to-date with updates, see me shitpost and post memes or just have a friendly chat, come follow me at twitter [@chattoyant_zee](https://twitter.com/chattoyant_zee)


	4. Chapter 4

I knew those triplets weren’t to be trusted. A week after Yuuko and the triplets came over to visit, they just had to tell Minako about Viktor. I sigh as I keep my hands on the steering wheel with Viktor seated beside me on the front. After the triplets told Minako about Viktor, then Minako telling my family about him, my mother called me the other day insisting that I come over to the Yu-topia to introduce him to the family. I couldn’t be more embarrassed now that everyone thinks that I have a boyfriend. I feel a ball of embarrassment pool at the pit of my gut at what their reaction could be, now with Minako in the picture.  _Especially Minako._ She had always been one to take the events in my life so seriously.

“Yuuri, are you alright?” He asks as I prepare myself for the potential onslaught of questions about my nonexistent love life. Just one more turn around the corner and I’d be at Yu-topia with people making talk about me. Hasetsu is a small place, after all. Rumor spreads like wildfire here and nearly everyone practically knows everybody. By now, I just wonder how many people Minako has told already.

“Yeah, I’m alright.” I let out another sigh and then hold my breath as I take a turn at a corner with the inn at my right. “Well…here we are.” I stop the car and park it before the entrance.

“You seem really tense, Yuuri,” Viktor comments out of the blue as we step out of the vehicle. “Don’t you want to see your family?”

“I do, but…” I feel my cheeks heat up as I began to fiddle with my thumbs in front of me. “How do I explain this…” I mumble as I scratch the back of my head. “Apparently….” I take a gulp and raise my head up to look at Viktor. “People think you’re my boyfriend now…”

“Oh, did they?” Viktor looked  _amused_ as his lips curved into a sly smirk. “I don’t mind it at all.” He adds a chuckle.

“B-But I do!” I begin sputtering as my cheeks heat up even more. “I-It’s so embarrassing…”

“I’m embarrassing?”

“N-No, that’s not what I meant!” I panic and frantically shake my head no. Now I’m even more embarrassed with how my words came across to him. The least I wanted to do was offend someone, most of all Viktor. “It’s just that….!” I pause in the middle of constructing my sentence to find the right words to say. “It’s um, you see…” I mumble again as I cast my eyes down to the ground, too ashamed to even look him in the eye.

Instead of giving me a hurt look, Viktor lets out a soft chuckle instead and gives my shoulder a pat. “Oh, Yuuri, you’re so cute.” I can feel the blood from my body migrate north to my face, my blood vessels threatening to burst. If I wasn’t embarrassed as it was before, my embarrassment is now up to the hundredth power. “I was only kidding!” He lets out an even louder laugh this time.

“Viktor, you sadist!” I say as a matter of fact as I pull myself away from him.

“Actually, I’m more of a mas—“

“I don’t need to know that!” I take in a deep inhale and heave a frustrated huff as I slowly begin calming my nerves down. “Okay.” I breathe in again and regain my composure. “Let’s head in, shall we?” In the back of my mind, I conjure up the potential possibilities that await me the moment I step inside the inn. In matching clothing too, to boot.

“Alright!” Viktor follows after me as I walk towards the entrance and slide the door open.

“Kaa-san, tou-san, Mari-neechan, I’m home!” I call out as I take off my shoes and place it on the shoe rack. Viktor does the same. Then, I hear the loud shuffling of feet on the wooden floor and out comes my mother dressed in the inn robes with a stain that looks suspiciously like katsudon sauce on her apron.

“Yuuri, welcome home!” She greets me brightly as she stops herself just before she was shy of hugging me. She always knew I liked my space.  _Unlike some people._  I turn my head to glance at Viktor. (Not that I’m complaining.) “How are you? Are you doing well in the farm? Did you eat well?”

“Yeah, I am.” I answer, to which she replies with a bright smile like she always does. “Oh, where’s tou-san and Mari-neechan?”

“Oh, your father’s busy entertaining the guests while your sister is cleaning the rooms. Go help out later, won’t you?”

“Sure—“

“Ah, and Yuuri.” My mother tilts her head to the side to look at Viktor standing behind me. “Is this the handsome foreigner boyfriend Minako-senpai was talking to me about?”

This is it. The moment I feared of the most.

 “No, no, you got it all wrong,” I let out an awkward laugh. “He just moved in to Japan and until he can find someplace to live, he’ll be staying with me in the farm.” I hope I was convincing enough.

“Ah, is that so!” My mother believes my explanation much to my relief.

“Nice to meet you, I’m Viktor!” Viktor introduces himself as he holds out his hand much to my mother’s surprise. “Now I see where Yuuri gets his looks from!” I feel myself my face heat up a little.

“My, my!” My mother blushes takes his hand to shake it and chuckles merrily. “Even your Japanese is good enough to flatter me! My name is Hiroko!” She lets go of his hand and starts gesturing us inside. “Anyway Viktor, please make yourself at home. There’s food prepared for the both of you in the dining area.”

“Oh, thank you!” Viktor says brightly.

“Please do call for me when you need something, okay?” She gives a slight bow before leading us towards the dining area where two large bowls of katsudon wait on the table.

“Since you’re here, I figured I’d make your favorite food!” She declares proudly.

“Thank you so much!” I give her a grateful smile before picking my chopsticks up, which Viktor mimics. She gives us a short wave before excusing herself to attend to attend to the kitchen. Before I could get a piece of pork cutlet into my mouth, I hear my father behind the counter bringing a tray beer cans from the kitchen.

“Well, if it isn’t Yuuri!” He exclaims happily as he sets the tray to the customer to the left of us and approaches me to give me a pat on the shoulder. “You’ve really lost some weight working in that farm, haven’t you?” He lets out a laugh. “You used to look exactly like your mother before!”

“Ah, thank you.” I laugh awkwardly at the comment upon recalling the times I had to go on a diet and burn off that excess weight before a competition.

“And oh, is this the foreigner Minako was talking about?” Viktor’s head perks up in the middle of eating his katsudon at the mention of him. “He’s quite good-looking, isn’t he? No wonder he’s your boyfriend—“

“H-He’s not my boyfriend!” I sputter for the second time now with my face burning. Beside me, Viktor gives me a discreet wink as he continues with his bowl. My blood pressure sky rockets.

“Oh, if you say so, Yuuri.” He pats my shoulder again and laughs. “Now, how do you introduce yourself in English again?”

“Oh, there’s no need for that!” Viktor puts his chopsticks down and holds out his hands. “Nice to meet you, my name is Viktor!”

“Oh, so you speak Japanese after all!” My father lets out a pleased laugh as he takes his hand. “I’m Toshiya, Yuuri’s father. I trust Yuuri has been treating you well?”

“Of course he has!” Viktor replies cheerfully with a mouthful of rice. “He even lets me sleep on his bed—“

I clap my hand over his mouth before he could even continue and have my father getting the wrong ideas. “He means that I let him sleep in my room while he’s still looking for a house to settle in!”

“Ah, so that’s why!” He chuckles. “Looks like Minako misinterpreted it then.” I breathe a sigh of relief. Even though it was little, it at least did something to ease my embarrassment. “Anyway, I’ll go back to work now, so see you later, Yuuri, Viktor!” He gave my head a pat before walking away to head back to the kitchen. “Go say hi to your sister when you see her!”

Just as my father was out of sight, I give Viktor a pointed look. “Viktor, don’t say anything funny around my family!” I scold him.

“Funny?” He gives me a bewildered look. “But all I said was the truth—“

“I know, I know. You mean well but,” I huff and I lean towards him to whisper to his ear. “There are people who will misinterpret something you said as something else entirely so be careful.”

“Ah, just like when you said that I sleep on your bed, people might think that we had—“ I turn red to my ears and clap his mouth shut again. This man has no sense of shame at all.

“So you understand after all!” I shriek. The customers in the room went quiet and began to look at me, their stares burning holes at the back of my head. Way to go. I take my hand off his mouth and pick up a pair of chopsticks. “Viktor, you idiot,” I mouth quietly as I shrink in on myself to avoid their stares and focus on gorging myself on the bowl of katsudon before me.

When the both of us finish our bowls, we exit the dining area with my head bowed and my ears somewhat flushed as I head towards the private area of the inn.

“Where are we going?” Viktor asks as he looks around and observes the paper screens lining the halls.

“Just going to say hello to an old friend.” I smile at him faintly as I turn to the left and slide open the screen leading to the family shrine. On it is a picture of me as a child hugging Vicchan along with the medals I’ve earned throughout my past competitions. The way the light shone against its surface was almost mocking, serving as a reminder of the things I could have done if only I hadn’t failed somehow. I swallow the bitter aftertaste down my throat and proceed my way inside. I light some incense sticks on the burner, its scent wafting through the corners of the room. I sit on the tatami before the shrine and put my hands together in silent prayer as Viktor sat beside me.

It’s been three years already.

And yet, the pain of losing my friend still stung. The fact that I wasn’t with him in his dying moments made the sting hurt even more. He was always there for me ever since I was young. Even though he couldn’t say anything, his presence alone did more than enough to comfort me during times when I was down. He did so much for me and yet I couldn’t even return all that he did for me by being with him. It’s something that still feels sore to this day. I only hope that he’s in a much better place now.

I sigh as I put my hands down and reach into the shrine to pick the picture frame up and run my thumb against the small brown mass of curls in the photograph that was Vicchan. In the picture, I was bright, happy and young, not yet knowing of the things that would come later in life. I place the picture back where I found it and bow my head down pensively.

“Yuuri.” Viktor breaks the silence, his hand on my shoulder. “Is something wrong?” His voice was tinted in worry.  _For me._

“No, it’s just that,” I sniffle and then raise my head to look at him. “I lost Vicchan years ago, and I…” I feel the telltale sign of tears starting to form at the corner of my eyes. “I couldn’t even be with him in his last moments.” I sniffle again and Viktor takes my hand in his. “I’m…” The floodgates burst, my heart cold and heavy at the guilt I haven’t quite let go of. “He’s done so much for me and yet…” I take in a deep breath as my shoulders start to shake. “It’s been so many years already and I can’t seem to forgive myself for it…” Viktor cups my cheek with his hand gently, his thumb running tenderly against my skin. “I wonder if he even forgives me…” His eyes looked sad. Pained, almost. His lips were pressed into a tight, thin line before it twisted into a grimace. His fingers reach underneath my glasses to wipe the tears off my eyes.

“I understand.” His voice almost sounded like it was trembling as he wraps his arms around me. I bury my face against his chest and breathe in his scent as the tears only kept on coming. “I understand, Yuuri.” I can feel his fingers run gently through my hair as the room went empty, our breaths the only thing filling the silence. Does he feel my pain too? There’s still so much I don’t know.

“Yuuri.” He finally says after a while and I lift my face up from his chest, my eyes probably red and swollen by now. “I may haven’t been there to witness everything, but I know you haven’t done anything wrong.”

“How would you know?”

His silence alone was an answer enough for me.

His smile looked bitter.

“There are things that are out of our control, Yuuri.” Viktor says quietly as I bow my head and purse my lips tightly. “If something bad happened to you and someone you loved can’t come due to circumstances, would you hate them?”

I immediately raise my head to look at him. “No, I…wouldn’t.”

“See?” His lips curve into a faint smile this time as he took my hand and gave it a slight squeeze. “I’m sure Vicchan loved you when he was still around.”

 “I can’t imagine anyone hating someone as kind as you, Yuuri.” The look in his eyes now was warm, genuine.

“Viktor, I…” I bring up the corners of my lips into a faint smile as I feel the burden I’ve been carrying in my chest lighten up. “Thank you.”

“Anything for you, Yuuri.” I feel myself blush slightly as my heart begins to beat quickly.

Then, I hear the familiar sound of a throat clearing. “I hate to interrupt your moment, but,” my sister says leaning against the door frame before taking a drag of her cigarette. “I’d like to welcome my little brother back home.”

“Mari-nee-chan!” I immediately turn towards her, and so does Viktor.

“Nice to meet you, my name is Viktor.” He introduces himself to my sister with a smile.

“Mari,” she responds nonchalantly with an eyebrow raised in amusement before training her eyes on me, looking alarmed. “Yuuri, are you alright?”

“Yeah, I am.” I laugh awkwardly as I make a move to rub my eyes.

For some reason, she gives Viktor a pointed look.

“N-No, it’s not what you think!” I start explaining, much to Viktor’s confusion. “He was just…comforting me…” I mumble shyly as I rub my arm.

“That so.” she puffs out cigarette smoke before crossing her arms before her chest. “Anyway, kiddo, kaa-san told me to remind you to help in cleaning up.”

“Oh, of course.” I get up from the tatami and start heading out of the room before looking back at Viktor. “Viktor do you want to help out?”

“Sure thing.” He chuckles softly as he gets up and follows me and my sister out the hallway.

The three of us head into an unused private bath to get it ready before the guests who reserved it arrive. Viktor and I scrub the moss starting to settle on the rocks lining the spring while my sister fishes out any leaves that have fallen into the water.

“Yuuri, what exactly do you do in a hot spring inn?” Viktor dips his hand into the water before pulling it back out quickly. “Ow, hot.”

I let out a small laugh at his reaction as I collect the moss I’ve scrubbed off into a small pan. “Well for one, you bathe in it and relax. Hot springs have medicinal properties too so it’s really good for the skin.”

“But don’t you think a single bath like this is too big for one person to bathe in?” Viktor asks as he raises his head to look around. The steam coming from the water clouds my glasses a bit.

“Oh, baths like these are meant to be used by multiple people at a time.” His eyes immediately dart to me at the mention, as if he has some idea. “There are baths that can be used individually but they’re much smaller.”

“So does that mean we can bathe together?” Viktor looks almost thrilled at the thought as he scrubs the moss of the rocks in a pace that only matched his excitement. Whether he was excited to bathe with me or just see me naked, I don’t know. Regardless, the thought of it alone makes my heart race despite the fact that I’ve been bathing with naked people for more than half of life.

“Yes.” I mumble quietly under my breath as the steam did its job well to cover the expression on my face.

“Wow, but why aren’t you alright with me wanting to bathe with you back home? Isn’t it the same thing?” His laugh echoes in the private bath as he puts the moss he has scrubbed off into the same pan as mine.

“It depends on the context, Viktor!” I can’t believe I’m having this talk. The blush on my cheeks is only threatening to lay claim on the rest of my face. “Hot springs are made for public use and the bath at home is too…” I clamp my mouth tightly shut as my skin begins to burn as hot as the water.

“But Yuuri, you see me naked all the time!” He exclaims way louder than I would have liked. My sister stops in her tracks and drops her net into the water. I see her face turn a lighter shade of red than mine as she picks the net up and collects the leaves that have fallen into the water back again.

My ears are so hot I swear steam is coming out of them. As much as I’ve grown fond of Viktor, there’s still no getting over the fact that he truly has no sense of shame.

My sister places the leaves she gathered into a bucket and leaves the bath without saying a word.

She will probably never look at me the same way ever again.

After cleaning the bath, we move on to the washroom to replace the water in the tubs and scrub the floors clean until our back and shoulders ached. Thankfully, Viktor didn’t say anything weird this time.

After cleaning the washroom, we move on to clean the rooms of the guests who asked for room service whereas my sister goes on to sweep the leaves that had fallen on the front yard. At one time, a lady whose room we were cleaning wouldn’t stop flirting with Viktor blatantly, her eyelashes batting profusely at him as she’d give Viktor the occasional touches as he replaced the towels in the bathroom. I was completely invisible even when I was in the same room as them.

“Say, are you free tonight?” She asks, her voice lowered on purpose to entice him. Somehow I can’t help but feel something prickly and ugly with every syllable she utters towards Viktor.

“Not really.” Viktor answers as he rolls up the towels and places it on the sink. I see a brief flash of annoyance on the lady’s face as Viktor turns to look at me. “Do you have any plans for tonight, Yuuri?”

“No.”

“Ah, now that’s wonderful!” Her voice is grating to my ears as I quietly replace the toiletries in the bathroom. “Mind giving a girl some company tonight then?” She hooks her arm around Viktor’s with the other around his waist and practically moves her face just mere inches from kissing him before curling her lipstick-stained lips in a flirtatious smirk. That ugly feeling festers in the pit of my gut into a feeling I don’t want to name.

“I’m sorry, but I’m not interested,” Viktor says as politely as he could as he plasters on that charming smile of his. In that moment, whatever dark phantom of a feeling that settled inside me leaves as he pulls his arm away from her and turns to look at  _me._ My breath hitches and my cheeks heat up for an entirely different reason. As I finish stocking up the toiletries, he takes my hand and excuses himself politely as he exits the bathroom.

“I’m sorry, but we really have someplace else to be.” He gives the lady a quick smile before pulling me outside the room. As we start exiting, I swear I could see her eyeing me distastefully. I give her a quick smirk before fully shutting the door behind me. The look on her face was priceless.

“Yuuri, are you alright?” Viktor asks me as we walk to the next room together. I take his hand in mine much to his satisfaction and I hum in reply. “Really? You seemed pretty tense back there, I could tell.” He swings both our hands together as he locks his fingers with mine. What are we, even?

“Yeah, I am.” I look at him and curl the corners of my lips into a smile. There was no hiding to myself that I felt something akin to possessiveness when she looked at him and touched him like that.

 “Viktor…” I begin.

“Yes?” He looks at me, his eyes bright and so, so blue. What am I feeling, even?

I purse my lips before letting the words out of my mouth. A faint blush crosses my cheeks. “What did you think about that lady?”

He hums thoughtfully before answering. “Hmm…she seemed kind of pushy, to be honest.” He laughs. “She made me feel really uncomfortable, to be honest.” Viktor shrugs. “Were you worried that I like her?”

“N-No!” That’s ridiculous. “I mean, no…” I lower my voice and bow my head down to hide the look on my face. “B-Besides, I…I already know what your preference is, anyway…”

When I raise my head to look at him, he smirks at me faintly and takes his hand off mine to place it on my waist, the touch alone sending a burst of electricity coursing through my body.

“So you do.” His eyes darken and bear something I can’t quite place as he leaves something unsaid.

As we finish our chores just as the sun had set, my mother calls me down to the dining area to eat. The pleasant scent of seafood hotpot wafts into my nose as the guests chat among themselves as the sound of glasses clinking together and the occasional laughter blend with every other sound into a steady cacophony. As we make our way the table where my mother, father and sister were seated at, I spot a very familiar figure slumped up against the table, groaning with a beer can in hand.

I take a seat at beside her on the floor and Viktor takes his to my right so that I’m sitting between the both of them. As if sensing our presence, Minako turns her head groggily towards us, her alcohol-flushed face only perking up suddenly.

“Yuuri, you really are here!” She screeches as she places both of her hands on my shoulders. “Not to mention, you’ve lost a lot of weight too!” She practically shakes me until she tilts her head to look behind me.

“Yuuri!” Minako screeches as she jumps off her cushion and skitters towards Viktor. “Is this the boyfriend the triplets were talking to me about? You’re Viktor, right?”

“Mh-hmm.” Viktor nods and gives her a smile before holding out his hand, which Minako happily shakes and introduces herself excitedly. “Nice to meet you!”

“So, Viktor, how long have you and Yuuri been in a relationship?” Minako asks him with an eyebrow upturned as she snickered at me.

“M-Minako-sensei, Viktor is not my boyfriend!” I explain for the nth time today as I blush hardly. “W-Whatever those triplets said, they were just making it up!”

“Oh, really?” Minako smirks and takes her beer can from the table to take a sip from it. Amidst the commotion, my mother, father and sister begin helping themselves to the hotpot. “But you wish he was, don’t you, Yuuri?”

I shut my mouth and turn my head away from her as I make a move to helping myself to the food. Viktor smiles at me and inches himself closer towards me to the point that our sides are pressed against one another.

Well, she isn’t wrong though.

Viktor lets out a hum-laugh beside me as he looks at the color blooming on my cheeks and happily starts eating the food laid out before him. Much to my relief, Minako returns to her seat and stops teasing me in favor of what seems to be her third beer that my father hands to her.

“So Viktor, where are you from?” Minako takes a sip from her beer as she props her elbows up against the table. “You’re pretty fluent in Japanese for a foreigner, aren’t you?”

I take a bite of the food as Viktor leans forward to look at Minako. “Oh, I’m from another planet!” He says as a nonchalantly and everyone seated at the table goes silent and turns to look at him. Oh no. If news gets to the people from PSIA that Viktor is in fact an alien, there’s no knowing what they’d do. I feel my feet turn cold at all the terrible possibilities that could happen.

Would I be interrogated by a super-secret government organization and tortured until I spit out some information? Or worse, will they take Viktor away to perform experiments on him—

“Oh, you foreigners and your sense of humor!” My mother laughs from the other side of the table. “Yuuri often watches foreign movies and even with the subtitles on, I still can’t seem to understand what he’s laughing about!”

I breathe a sigh of relief as everyone bursts out laughing much to Viktor’s confusion.

“Huh? What are they laughing about, Yuuri?” Viktor whispers to me.

“They thought that you were joking about you coming from another planet.”

“What?” Viktor frowns. “But I was only telling the truth though.”

“I know but you can’t just say that outright,” I scold him quietly. “Remember the guys from the PSIA that visited the farm a week ago?” I whisper as softly as I can.

“You mean those intimidating-looking guys in the black suits?”

“Yeah, those.” I nod. “Remember what I told you about them?”

“I forgot.” He admits with a chuckle.

I lean towards him closer to whisper to his ear. “They’re government operatives. If they find out that you’re an alien, they’re bound to want to get their hands on you like they did with your spaceship.”

Viktor gasps and covers his mouth. “What will they do if they get me?”

“They’ll cut you open and experiment on you.” I say in the darkest tone I could manage.

“No!” Viktor shrieks and throws his arms around me, drawing everyone’s attention towards the both of us.

“Ah, is something the matter?” My father asks.

“No, no, no, everything’s okay!” I take Viktor by the shoulders and push him away much to his dismay. “I-I was just telling him a scary story, is all!” I laugh nervously.

“Oh. Alright.” My father looks doesn’t look convinced but thankfully he doesn’t press on as he brings his attention back to his food and chatting in between bites.

“Yuuri.” Viktor places his hand over mine underneath the table. “You’ll make sure they won’t get me, right?” He says softly with what looks to be the most soulful puppy dog eyes I’ve ever seen.

“Of course, Viktor.” I smile at him shyly to which his eyes light up brightly.

“Thank you, Yuuri!” He throws his arms around me again and presses his lips against my cheek, leading me to short-circuit and cease all thought processes.

“I knew it!” Minako points at me as soon as Viktor moves his face away from mine. “Viktor really  _is_ your boyfriend!” She shouts and everyone turns to look at us with Viktor’s arms still around me.

“Oh, Yuuri!” My mother giggles as she covers her mouth. “You didn’t have to hide that fact around us!”

My father laughs and my sister only snickers as she focuses on finishing her food. “That’s right! We’re happy you finally found someone!”

“I-I told you, he’s not my boyfriend!” At this point, I think I’m going to have to repeat this same statement over and over again until everyone gets the right idea about us. If they even do, that is. Viktor takes it as a cue to unwrap his arms around me and sits up straight on his cushion and chuckles, looking pleased with himself.

Everyone laughs and looks the least bit convinced with my response. For the next several minutes, I become the topic of the conversation and I focus on clearing the food in front of me to drown out the embarrassment, no, the shame that has me wishing a hole will open up in the ground and swallow me whole. Viktor looks unfazed by the entire ordeal (as he usually is) and entertains the others by making small talk. They ask him a lot of questions about himself, and then me. Thankfully, he doesn’t say anything embarrassing. After the conversation slowly dies out just as my shame does, the plates are cleared and my sister approaches Viktor.

“Mind if we talk for a while?” She asks him as he takes a drag from her cigarette.

“Sure.” Viktor nods and gives me a quick wave before he follows my sister to the front porch. Huh. I wonder what she wanted to talk about with him.

I get up from my seat and help my mother gather up the various utensils on the table as my father offers another can of beer to a visibly drunk Minako slumped over the table.

“Viktor sure is something isn’t he, Yuuri?” My mother chuckles as she places the utensils on plastic cart. I do the same, the various plates and bowls clinking against one another as I do.

“I guess he is…” I blush.

“Foreigners are really expressive, huh?” My father laughs as he picks up a spray bottle from the cart and sprays the table before wiping it clean.

“That’s just the way he is.” I say as a matter of fact. The man basically has no sense of personal space. Not that it bothers me too much now that I’ve slowly grown used to him touching me. It kind of…feels nice. I feel myself redden even further now that I’ve admitted it to myself. The fact that he does it without regard for the context is what bothers me, that is.

“Minako-sensei, aren’t you going to go home?” She begrudgingly raises her head from the table to look at me, her face flushed red with alcohol.

“Nah. Doubt I’d even be able to walk around at this rate, anyway,” she mumbles.

“Minako-senpai, you really should tone your drinking down a little!” My mother says as she collects the few remaining utensils.

“I’m fine, Hiroko,” she insists. “Besides, it’s kind of interesting being drunk and unrestrained, don’t you think so, Toshiya?”

“Right you are.” My father lets out a hearty laugh as he finishes wiping off the table. The last time I was so drunk…well, let’s just say that something I’d all be too happy not to mention happened. Ever since then, I swore never to trust myself with alcohol again. Minako groan-laughs and slumps herself over the table again to sleep.

As my father walks off to clean another table and my mother wheels the cart into the kitchen to be washed, my sister arrives with Viktor in tow.

What’s strange though, was that Viktor was blushing as he gave me a glance. Visibly so.

“By the way, Yuuri, you might want to take a soak in the hot springs before you stop by your room. I already cleaned it out for you.” My sister says before walking off to do whatever chores she has left to do.

As I make a move to get up, Viktor offers his hand and pulls me up. “Thanks.” I keep my head bowed to him, the embarrassment I felt earlier not quite washing off yet. “A-Anyway…” I raise my head to look at him as I absently rub the spot he kissed earlier, my face only turning a bright shade of red every time I look at him. “Let’s go soak in the bath.”

Viktor nods quietly and gives me a quick smile, the blush on his face earlier still present.

Viktor is quiet as we make our way to the locker room to start stripping down. I begin to grow self-conscious of myself as I take my underwear off and place my discarded clothes into a basket. The fact that it’s so silent makes things even more awkward. I wish he’d talk and break the silence like he always does. Viktor shape-shifts his clothes off his body, revealing the pale, chiseled contour of his body. On his belly was a diagonal scar that stood out from the rest of his skin. I’ve never noticed that before. Probably due to how pale he is. Viktor notices me staring and I jolt up, the blood in my body immediately rushing to my cheeks.

“Like what you see?” He says teasingly with a cocky smirk.

Yes. I did like what I see but I can’t possibly say that out loud.

I gulp.

“I’m just teasing.” He laughs, his voice cutting through the silence. “Anyway, do we go straight to the bath?”

“No, we have to wash up first in the washroom.” I take a towel to tie around my waist and hand one to Viktor as the color in my cheeks begins to recede slowly. He slings the towel over his shoulder instead, content to remain naked and uncovered. I try my best not to look south but there was no helping it when his entire body was within eyeshot. Wait, why am I suddenly so bothered with other people’s nudity when I’ve basically lived here all my life? I lead the way to the washroom, which seemed oddly empty despite the time. I take a seat on a stool before a fogged-up mirror and a wooden bucket filled with warm water.

“Why do we have to bathe before taking a bath?” Viktor asks as he sits on the stool beside me. I untie the towel from my waist and grab a smaller bucket to fill with warm water. “Don’t you think it’s kind of redundant?” I pour the bucket of water over my head, effectively drenching my entire body.

“Well, the purpose of this is so we don’t make the bath dirty,” I explain as I take a wash cloth to rub against a bar of soap before scrubbing at my arms. “The spring is for soaking, after all.”

“Hmm I see.” Viktor nods at my explanation and takes his bucket to fill with water but doesn’t make a move to pour it over himself in favor of staring at me as I wash up, which, to put frankly, is embarrassing. It’s one thing to be naked in a place meant for naked people, but it’s another thing entirely when someone stares at you while you have no clothes on. I feel a deep blush creep up my cheeks and I cover what I could as I put the washcloth down.

“Viktor, it’s not very nice to stare, you know,” I scold him, the blush in my cheeks only deepening as he curls his lips into a sheepish smile. “What did you want?”

_You._

I mentally berate myself for thinking of that and the redness in my cheeks only spreads to the tips of my ears.

“Weeell…” Viktor starts, as if contemplating on what to say. “Since it’s our first time taking a bath together, is it alright if I wash your back for you?”

“Well…” I bow my head down to look at the tiles, contemplating his offer for a bit. I can feel my heart thrumming loudly in my ears at the mere thought itself. This is one of those moments wherein I choose between my sense of decency and own self-gratification. I won’t lie, I  _like_ it when he touches me. Just when it’s not in the presence of other people. And it’s  _definitely_ not sexually stimulating or anything. Friends do this to friends all the time. I choose the latter option and nod at him shyly as I hand the washcloth to him. He hums happy little tune to himself and grabs a stool to sit behind me. He starts scrubbing at the back of my shoulders, looking pleased with himself as he does so.

“Hey Viktor,” I start. I look into the mirror in front of me to meet his gaze. “What was that all about during dinner?” I ask, faintly recalling the sensation of his lips against my skin. Not to mention in front of my family, that is.

“I was just happy that you care for me that much, is all,” he smiles at me brightly as his hands work its way down my back, sending a slight shiver down my spine. “Why, does it bother you?”

“Not really…” I mumble.

“Oh?” He raises an eyebrow in amusement and smiles at my slyly as his hands move down to my lower back.

“W-What bothers me is that…” He forgoes the wash cloth and massages the soap into my skin instead, his deft fingers kneading into my back. I try not to groan. “I just don’t like it when you do it in front of people. It’s embarrassing.”

“So what you’re saying is that you like it when I touch you if I don’t do it in front of others?” His lips curve into a mischievous smirk. What is he even doing? God help me.

“That’s not what I…said.” My blush deepens as he takes the words right out of my mouth. Why is he even doing this? If he’s trying to seduce me, then it’s working. My self-control can only last so long with these signals he’s been sending me over the past weeks. His fingers dig into my lower back just so and an unwarranted moan escapes from my mouth. I clap my hands over my mouth as I feel like as if I’ve been submerged into a tub of boiling water.

“Yuuri.” Viktor stops what he’s doing and gives me a smile that borders between mischievous and teasing through the mirror. “What was that?”

“N-Nothing! I…” I cover my face with both my hands and scream internally into the void.

“Was that a…” Viktor keeps the weird smile on his face as he leans closer towards me, his chin propped up against my shoulder. Why the hell did that happen? God, I just want to disappear and never show my face ever again.

“No!” I shout and immediately turn three-sixty degrees to swat him off me, immediately bringing both of us down to the floor with a thud.

“Yuuri, you mo—“ I clap his mouth before he could even finish his sentence as a man who just came out of the hot spring bath gives us a weird look.

For the past days that Viktor has started living with me, my blood pressure has increased drastically.

After taking a soak in the hot spring bath, we both towel ourselves down and dress up in the locker room. Surprisingly, Viktor actually wears the robe I hand to him rather than shape-shift the exact same thing onto his body. Now that I think about it, if Viktor constantly shape-shifts his clothes onto himself and if his clothes are a part of his body, does that mean that he’s always naked?

A thought to ponder upon.

I am hit with a gentle wave of nostalgia as I enter my old room. The things there were kept the way I left them three years ago. I’ll have to thank Mari-neechan in the morning for cleaning the room up for me. I slide open the closet door and pull out a futon to roll out on the floor.

“Are you going to sleep again on the floor again, Yuuri?” Viktor asks me, with his head tilted to the side. His lips were pouted somewhat.

“Yeah even in here, you’re still my guest, after all.” I pat the creases off the futon before placing a pillow atop it.

“Yuuuuri…” He drawls out, the ‘u’ in my name rolling pleasantly against his tongue. “We’ve been living together for a while already, can’t you think of me as anything other than your guest?” He sighs. “Or perhaps, you can think of me as something more.” Viktor does that while giving me a wink. How I wish that were true.

“Well, if you insist.” I chuckle as my cheeks are slowly covered with a light dusting of pink. Viktor hums with a smile and plops himself down the bed without any second thoughts.

“Come on.” Viktor pats the empty space beside him. “I’m not your guest anymore, am I?”

I hesitate for a moment as I feel my heart jumping in my throat before losing against my urges. It’s just tonight anyway. I walk towards the bed and take a seat beside him before he wraps his arms around me to tackle me down against the mattress. I begin to feel self-conscious at our apparent position and then he rolls off me to lie down beside me. He snakes an arm around me to pull me close and I rest my head against the crook of his neck, breathing in his scent as his skin glows a faint blue.

“Today was really fun, wasn’t it?” Viktor blurts out all of a sudden as he begins running his fingers through my hair in a quiet, steady rhythm.

“Not as fun now that I’ve been embarrassed.” I roll my eyes and turn away from him as I fold my arms. “Aww, I’m sorry, Yuuri.” Viktor lets out a puppy-like whine. “I promise I won’t do that again in front of other people!”

“Fine.” I make a show of letting out a huff before turning towards him. “You’re forgiven.”

This seems to appease him and he lets out an excited ‘yay’ before wrapping his arms tightly around me like a very clingy octopus. I sigh and wrap mine around him much to his delight. I close my eyes and bury my head against his chest. I don’t even know what this is supposed to be, nor what his intentions are with me, to be honest. I wonder if he even feels the same way that I do towards him or if he’s just flirting with me. The latter seems convincing. I don’t think anyone would go out of their way to love someone as plain as me anyway. For now, I’ll take it as it is, whatever it could be and relish in the moment until I know for certain about how he feels. Looking back to that flare of jealousy earlier in the afternoon, it only serves as proof how my feelings towards him have surpassed that of friendship. As I feel my heart beat against his chest and his steady breathing, he ruffles my hair gently. I’ve never felt something as thrillingly peaceful as this in my entire life.

_What are we?_

“Thank you for bringing me here, Yuuri.” Viktor gives me a painfully gentle smile as he reaches his other hand to cup the side of my face, the tips of his fingers glowing that same blue glow at the contact. “I’m really grateful to have met the people who’ve supported you all through your life.”

“If not for them, I wouldn’t have met someone as wonderful as you are.”

_Someone as wonderful as you are._

No one has said that to me before.

I take a minute to digest this as he runs the pad of his thumb against my reddening cheek.

“Your family are such wonderful people,” he smiles at me with a slight sadness in his eyes before breaking out into a chuckle. “Your sister, especially, is really protective of you too.”

“She always has been.” I let out a soft laugh. “What exactly did you two talk about a while ago, anyway?” I recall his uncharacteristic blush as he returned to the table after he and Mari-neechan talked.

“We may or may not have talked about you.” He admits (not) with a hearty laugh that reverberates in his chest.

“Which is it?” I raise an eyebrow in an inquisitive manner as my lips curl into a slight smirk.

“Alright, we talked about you.” He admits with a laugh. “But I can’t tell you the specifics. Too confidential.”

“Oh, do tell.”

“Can’t. The people from PSIA might come after me if it leaks out.” I shakes his head as he gives me a pat.

“But I’ll be here to make sure they won’t?”

“I appreciate that, Yuuri.” Viktor gives me a smile that’s almost too sweet to bear. “But you know I can’t risk the possibility of an information leak.”

“Oh, is this to say that you don’t trust me, Viktor? After all I’ve done for you?” I say in jest.

“Nothing of the sort, I assure you.” He dismisses the notion with the wave of his hand. “It’s just that…” He trails off and a faint blush begins to settle on his cheeks uncharacteristically. He takes my hand and lets his faintly glowing fingers clasp against my non-glowing ones. He turns my hand over and makes a move to inspect it as the blush on his face only deepens.

“I think you can figure that out for yourself.” He smiles. I do have an idea but I’m afraid that I might come off as too confident or risk embarrassing myself by guessing wrong. There have been many instances in the past where that’s happened already. Back when I wanted to ask someone out in the past, I really swore that they also liked me only to find out that they were simply playing with me all along. But I’ll never know unless I say it myself. Maybe not now, but someday when I’m confident enough, I will. I’ll take things one at a time. Until I know more about him and he knows more about me.

I hum and give him a faint smile as I pull the covers over the both of us and I press my ear against his chest, listening to the steady rhythm of his heart beat slowly lulling me to sleep.

“Thank you, Yuuri.” Viktor rests his chin against the top of my head. “For finding me that day.” I crane my head to look at him. His eyes are soft and warm yet sad at the same time. I want to know more about him. I want to know why he looks so sad yet hides it deliberately. I want to grow closer with him and help him overcome whatever it is that’s weighing him down.

I smile back at him and tighten my hold around him.

“You’re welcome, Viktor.”

As little as the time we spent together may be, I can’t help but feel giddy, afraid, and excited all at the same time.  I breathe out a sigh and close my eyes as he holds me close against his chest and I feel warm, safe and protected.

_I think I’m in love._

“Good night, Yuuri.” His voice, along with the gentle thrumming of his heart is soothing and calming as I find myself slowly drifting off to sleep to the rhythmic lullaby.

For the first time in my life, I find myself wanting to hold onto someone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> see those obligatory hotsprings episode in every anime?  
> ah, yes this is one of them but with feelings!!!!!  
> welp this chapter was supposed to 6000 words but now it's 8000 xD
> 
> the next chapters will be the same length, probably longer even lmao
> 
> If you liked what you read, pls leave a like and a comment!  
> It will be greatly appreciated! 
> 
> If you want to become friends, talk with me or just watch me to see me express my undying love for katsuki yuuri , follow me on twitter [@chattoyant_zee](https://twitter.com/chattoyant_zee)


	5. Chapter 5

“And so…when the prince slipped the glass slipper onto Cinderella’s foot, he knew that he found the girl he had been dancing with in the ball,” Viktor reads out from the children’s story book I bought him a week ago, concentrating on reading each and every character on the page right. For the past month and three weeks we’ve been living together, we’ve been doing lessons on reading and writing every day after we finish work on the farm. So far, it’s been going on well since Viktor’s a really fast learner. He managed to write and read in English with relative ease within a span of two of weeks, to boot. It took me years of schooling, even to even learn how to read and write decently in English. After having the English language covered, we moved on to basic Japanese, starting with reading and writing in hiragana and katakana.

“’You’re the one!’ The prince said, much to the dismay of the step-mother and step-sisters. The prince then took Cinderella away into his palace where they married and lived happily ever after.”

As Viktor flips the page, he scrunches his nose in puzzlement upon finding out that that was the end of the story. He closes the book and places it among the pile of other children’s story books that I bought for him.

“So the prince decides that the best way to look for the girl he danced with the night before is to put a shoe on every girl in the kingdom?” Viktor grumbles. “Does he think that there’s only one girl in the kingdom who shares the same shoe size as Cinderella? Moreover, why did he even forget how she looked like if he was so into her?” He huffs and leans into the chair as he crosses his arms before him, apparently getting too engrossed in what he was just reading.

I let out a chuckle at his reaction to which he pouts at. Well, he does have a point.

“It’s just a fairytale, Viktor.” I laugh softly and get up to pick the books up from the coffee table to put them back on the shelf. “This story was intended to be for children, after all.”

“Well, if you say so.” He returns the laugh before beaming brightly at me. “Anyway, Yuuri, how did I do?” He’s almost like a kindergartner expecting praise from his teacher with how enthusiastic he looks.

“You did great, Viktor.” I smile back at him warmly and his eyes practically begin to sparkle at the praise. “Your pronunciation is getting really good too! You’re such a fast learner, Viktor.”

Viktor’s cheeks begin to flush a faint shade of pink as he takes my statement as a compliment.

“Since I did so well, don’t you have a reward waiting for me?” He says coyly and bats his eyelashes at me profusely as he curls his lips into a smolder.

I let out a snort before breaking into laughter at the face he’s making. “Viktor, you don’t have to do that every time, you know?”

 Lately, he’s been doing the same thing whenever he expects a reward from me for doing great every lesson time.

Which he does.

I open my arms out wide and he immediately scrambles off from the cushion he’s sitting on and happily wraps his arms around me tightly before mine come around him.

A faint blush dusts itself against my cheeks as I bury my face into those silvery strands of hair. My lips curl into a faint smile as I breathe in the pleasant scent of my shampoo in his hair.

Viktor nuzzles his face against the crook of my neck, his soft, measured breathing sending a gentle chill up my spine as he gives a contented hum.

He always does so well in our lessons and I’m all too happy to reward him with a hug. Initially, he told me he wanted a kiss from me but then I decided that it’d be too much for my poor heart to handle so we opted for a hug instead.

His embrace lingers a little longer than usual, his hold around me tightening. Whenever we embrace, he always looks so peaceful and content, as if he wants for nothing more in the world than to be held and touched.

It only makes me feelings for him grow all the more. At the same time, it breaks my heart to know that I barely even know him despite the time we spent together. I don’t even know much about his past, his family, his life, or if he’s even loved someone before.

Viktor breathes out a soft sigh and as he unwinds his arms from me, he smiles that gentle smile of his as his blue eyes betrayed a hint of longing.

I want to know.

“Thank you, Yuuri.” He lets out a thinly-masked laugh that comes out as dry and forced.

My heart cracks.

I smile back at him as I cradle his cheek in my hand. He leans into the warmth of my hand like a moth drawn to a flame, the skin on his cheek glowing that faint, ethereal glow under my touch. After a while, he draws himself away and slips his mask back on as quickly as it had come off in that tiny, singular moment.

It’s unfair.

“Anyway, Yuuri, it’s time for dinner, right?” His lips curl into a smile that’s all too bright to feel right.

“Ah, yeah.” I manage a quick smile at him as I try my best not to let my voice falter or crack at the overwhelming need to know swell in my chest. “What do you want for tonight?”

“Hmm how about katsudon?” He puts his hands together as if to emphasize his thought.

I give him a nod and a lopsided smile as I hurry to the kitchen to make dinner as he stays beside me to assist me.

As we eat at the dinner table comfortably in each other’s presence, I can’t help but feel something unsaid linger in the air between us.

We watch some TV and go to bed late in the night and settle in our respective spots in the room. I toss and turn on my futon as I find myself unable to sleep. I can’t get the thought of whatever Viktor might not be telling me off my mind.

It’s hard loving someone you barely even know anything about. Even much so when you want to ease their pain but don’t know how to. Later in the night, I hear him shift and turn on the bed briskly, muttering out things as his face contorts in pain at the phantom haunting his dreams.

“I’m so sorry…” His voice begins to crack into a sob. He mutters something incomprehensible under his breath and I can only make out a part of it. “...all my fault.”

His chest dips and rises frantically, his words slurred as he gasps for breath periodically, his arms outstretched as if to clutch at some unknown invisible presence. “Please forgive me…”

Hot, bitter tears flow down the contours of his cheeks before pooling into a wet spot on the sheets that spreads and slowly dissipates. Without thinking twice, I let myself on the bed and wrap my arms tightly around him from behind. He slowly calms down as his breathing slowly evens out.

“I’m so sorry, Viktor,” I murmur softly under my breath as my own voice begins to crack.

My heart only breaks for him all the more.

* * *

 

As we go shopping for farming supplies in town, he’s back to his usual chipper self, seemingly forgetting about his nightmare from last night. When we woke up this morning, he was more than pleased to find my arms wrapped around him tightly and pressed a kiss against my forehead as if it will take away all the thoughts swimming in my head last night. As Viktor and I finish loading the back of the pick-up truck with supplies, he pauses for a bit to look at something from the alley.

“Yuuri, I’m going to check something out for a bit,” Viktor says before quickly disappearing into the alley to look at whatever it is that caught his attention. He walks out of the alley a short while after, carrying a squirming bundle of something wrapped in his scarf.

“What did you find?” I look at the bundle in his arms as soon as he’s beside me. I lift the folds of the scarf to look at whatever it is that’s underneath only to recoil once I feel something wet and warm swipe against my hand. Surely enough, a small head of curly brown fur pokes out from the scarf, its tongue hanging casually out of its mouth.

“Vicchan…?” It can’t be. Vicchan has long since left us now.

“Isn’t she cute?” Viktor practically beams as he runs his fingers against the little puppy’s mass of curly fur. “I found her when we first entered the store and it looks like she doesn’t have anywhere to go home to.” He presses the small puppy against his cheek and gives it a little peck on the head. Upon closer inspection, I can see that the puppy is far too skinny, her apparent boniness hidden by her curly fur. As I reach out to ruffle her fur, she darts out its tongue and swipes a lick at my hand. My heart practically melts as she looks at me with big puppy dog eyes and lets out a tiny high-pitched whine.

“Can we keep her, Yuuri?” Viktor says with big, soulful eyes. “I’d feel bad if we just her out here alone with no one to take care of her.”

“Well, I guess I wouldn’t mind taking care of one more,” I say with a laugh as I run my fingers against her chocolate-brown fur.

“You say that like it’s so much trouble.” Viktor pouts.

“No, no, it’s nothing like that!” I wave my hands frantically in front of me upon realizing the implication of my words. “I actually…love having you around, Viktor…” I feel my face heat up a bit and smile nervously as I admit this to him. “You’re so much fun to be with and I think you’re cool and funny and really cute sometimes…” I fumble with my fingers as I struggle to find the right words to say. As I look up, I big, wide smile is plastered on his face as his own cheeks blush visibly as well.

“Aww, Yuuri, you’re so sweet!” Viktor lets out a laugh that reaches his shoulders as his lips curl into that heart-shaped smile of his. “I think you’re pretty cute too, you know.” As if to emphasize his point, he winks at me and pokes the tip of my nose.

I swallow a nonexistent lump in my throat as he smirks at me.

“A-Anyway,” I begin as I start to compose myself. “Since we’re going to keep her, I think we should at least buy stuff for her.”

“Did you hear that?” Viktor lifts the puppy to eye level as she wags her tail excitedly. “You’re staying with us from now on!”

“Make sure to look after her alright? I’ll help you take care of her as well.”

“Of course!”

“That means remembering to feed her every day and cleaning up after her, alright?”

“I’m fully well and capable of taking care of her, thank you very much.” As he makes a move to cross his arms in front of his chest, he accidentally drops the puppy on the pavement.

 

“So Viktor, have you decided on a name for her yet?” I ask as I fill the dog dish with food and water while Viktor puts on a pink collar that says “Top Dog” around the puppy’s neck.

“Hmm…” Viktor gives a thoughtful hum as he finishes buckling the collar around the puppy before turning her around to take a look. He lets out an ‘aww’ as she wags her tail and boops her nose against his knee.

“What about Makkachin?” He picks Makkachin up to place her on his lap where she rolls over to her back and exposing her furry belly.

“Would you like that, Makkachin? Doesn’t it sound cute?” Viktor coos as he playfully gives the puppy’s belly a little tickle.

Makkachin lets out a tiny bark in reply and swipes her tongue against Viktor’s hand, covering it in slobber. I feel the beginnings of a smile creep up my face as I feel my heart warm up at just how cute and endearing the sight of Viktor playing with the little puppy could be. I walk towards Viktor and take a seat beside him on the carpet to take a better look at the new addition to the household.

“Well, she really is cute, isn’t she?” I take hold of her tiny paw in my hand and give it a little shake.

“Hello there, Makkachin. It’s nice to meet you.”  Looking at Makkachin now brings me a sense of nostalgia. She reminds me of the time I first met Vicchan.

My parents had bought him for me as a gift for graduating elementary school. Ever since then, we were inseparable.

That was, until he died while I was out competing overseas.

I take in a deep sigh as I recall that moment back in the inn wherein Viktor comforted me as I blamed myself for Vicchan’s death.

It still hurts me to this day to think that I hadn’t been there in his final moments. However, the talk I had with Viktor did a lot to soften the blow before my grief could overwhelm me further and repeat this endless cycle of self-blame.

At least now, with this little bundle of curly brown fur before me, I won’t make the same mistake again. I’ll be there for her when he needs me. I press my side against Viktor’s and lean my head against his tall frame. He smiles at me sweetly and wraps an arm around my waist to pull me close against him.

And I’ll be there for him too.

Viktor picks the little puppy up and places her on my lap, where she rolls over energetically despite her thin frame. Viktor and I let out a laugh as Makkachin takes my finger in her mouth, nibbling at it with her barely-formed teeth.

“Looks like you’re hungry, aren’t you?” Viktor coos as he gives her black shiny nose a little poke. “Poor thing, you must really be famished after being left outside all alone.”

“How could anyone have the heart to leave something so precious out in the streets all alone?” I ruffle her curly brown fur as she wags her tail excitedly. “Well, you’ve waited long enough, so why don’t you go ahead and get some lunch?” I pick her off my lap and set her on the floor where she excitedly skitters towards the dog dish to hungrily mow down her food.

Viktor and I watch her clear the dish as quickly as she approached it. Viktor gave her a soft pat on the head and reached into the bag of treats to give her a reward.

“Aww, are you all full now?” Viktor crouches down on the floor to run his hand against her back. “You’re such a good girl for finishing all of your food, aren’t you? Now Yuuri’s going to have a really easy time doing the dishes!”

“Hey, who said that I’m the only one doing the dishes?” I huff and put my hands on my hips. “If you live here, then you should help out too.”

“Oops.” Viktor puts his hand over his mouth in mock surprise and I roll my eyes at his gesture before breaking out into a chuckle.

“Anyway, why don’t you help me out in making lunch for ourselves?” I stretch out my hand to him to help him up. “We should at least get something in our stomachs before we head back to work on the farm.”

“But who will watch Makkachin?”

“Makkachin will be alright.” I let out a small laugh as I watch her scamper towards the dog bed and play with a cat-shaped squeak toy on it. “She has plenty to keep her entertained after all.”

“Alright!” Viktor beams at me brightly. “So what will it be today?” He starts making his way to the kitchen ahead of me.

“What do you think about curry?”

 

After we had our fill of curry for lunch, Viktor and I head back out to the farm to feed the cows and chickens as well. Viktor looks more enthusiastic than usual as he fills the trough for the chickens with feed as I give the cows hay to eat. He’s probably eager to finish work as quickly as he can so he can get back inside and play with Makkachin. He hums to himself as he absently watches the chickens peck away at the food with little clucks. Little does he know that he fills the trough with too much food much to the distressed clucks of the chickens, nearly emptying the bag of chicken feed.

“V-Viktor!” His attention snaps back and his eyes are immediately drawn to the sight of excess feed spilling off the trough and scattering on the floor.

“Oh—“ He sets the bag upright, saving what little feed he could before taking the excess in his hands and scooping it back into the bag. “I’m sorry, I wasn’t paying attention!” He lets out an awkward laugh as the feed only slips through his fingers as he frantically tries to put it back into the sack.

“It’s alright, it’s alright!” I dismiss the thought as I take a small trowel and use it to help him scoop the feed back into the bag. “I guess you must be really excited to play with Makkachin, huh?”

“Yeah, you’re right,” he admits bashfully with a slight chuckle as he bends down to scoop the feed that had spilled on the floor back into the sack. “Just playing with animals is really fun though.”

“Did you have a pet back when you were in your planet?”

“Yeah, I did.” Viktor gives me a nod as he continues cleaning the floor up with his hands. “Before the war started, my brother found him wandering around the city and decided to give him to me.”

“You have a brother?”

“Yeah.” He gives a slight smile at me as he dutifully continues cleaning the floorboards up. “He shares the same name as you too.”

“Really?” I feel as though a sliver of light has been shed on what little I knew about Viktor. Even this information, no matter how minor or trivial, is a big step for me in getting to know him better. “What is he like?”

“For one, he’s one what you would call a rebel.” He recalls with a fond look in his eyes. “He can be rude and abrasive sometimes but when it calls for it, he can really be honest and caring despite how much he tries to deny it.”

“Teenager?”

“Teenager.” Viktor lets out a soft snort before his shoulders shake with laughter, spilling some of the feed he picked up with his hands on the ground. “He can be really loud too. Really, really loud especially when he’s angry and swears a lot. He speaks his mind out a lot and with no hesitation, too.” He brags with what is only described to be as pride for a younger sibling. I wouldn’t know how that feels like because I a _m_ the younger sibling in my family.

“In my case, Mari-neechan is the one who speaks out a lot.” I recall the times when I was much younger when she’d give the kids who made fun of me a talk and even gave me a pep talk whenever I felt down and didn’t feel up to doing something I should and could.

“True.” Viktor hums as he continues putting the feed back into the bag, the pile in the trough slowly starting to get smaller and smaller. “For one, she really is protective of you, Yuuri.”

“Just what did you two talk about anyway?” I feel my cheeks heat up a little at the possibility of what their conversation topic could have been.

“Hmm I wonder.” He gives me a sly smile as he throws a wink my way. I guessed right.

 

After finishing work for the day, Viktor makes his way back into the house where an eager Makkachin is waiting for him at the door with her tail wagging excitedly.

“Hi, Makkachin, did you miss me?” Viktor picks the little puppy up to give her a little peck on the head to which she yips in response.

“Viktor, we’ve only been away for like five hours.”

“Five hours without my darling little Makkachin!” He scoops her up into his arms and lets her head rest against his shoulder as he gives her back a pat as if he’s burping a baby. Not less than a day of having her with us and he’s already grown attached to her. I can’t see why not when she’s practically the image of cuteness with her fuzzy curly fur and those big black eyes of hers.

“Well, I guess you’re right.” I let out a slight giggle as I look at him coddling Makkachin. “We shouldn’t miss out on spending time with the newest addition to the household after all.” I get behind Viktor and give Makkachin a playful scratch under her chin.

“Aww, Yuuri, I’m so glad you consider me a part of this household!” Viktor turns around and practically beams at me.

“You already were once you started living here, silly.” There wasn’t even a household to begin in this place to begin with before Viktor started living with me. Ever since then, my life here has gotten more interesting and worth looking forward to. The corners of my lips turn up into a smile as I reach out to give his head a little pat. He returns my smile in a manner that’s painfully sweet.

“And you’ll continue to be for as long as you’ll have me.”

As his eyes begin to light up brighter than the stars themselves, I find myself falling for him even more.

 

* * *

 

It was unusually warm despite being the middle of autumn.

Usually I’d find myself bundling up in thick layers of clothing to keep warm during this time of the month.

Today however, Viktor takes its place entirely as he walks with me hand in hand, our hands clasped together tightly as he swings both of our arms together.

With my free hand, I hold Makkachin’s leash as she bounds excitedly ahead of us as she chases she looks at the surroundings around her.

A month ago, I’d feel bothered whenever he holds my hand in public as if it were something so lewd.

A month later, its presence feels more welcome than bothersome, the feel of his hand a pleasant and steady weight against mine.

The fringe of Viktor’s hair is done up in a braid pinned to the side of his head. Before we left the farm to take Makkachin to the vet, he asked me to follow a hairstyle he saw on TV. Ever since we left the farm, he hasn’t undone his hair since.

With his hair out of the way, I can better appreciate the deep blue of his eyes as the sunlight bends and melds into gold with his irises.

He’s so beautiful that it’s so unfair.

When he notices me staring, Viktor turns to face me and his lips curve into that gentle bow-shaped smile.

“Is something on my face?”

 _“You,”_ I desperately wanted to say. Unfortunately, I’m not smooth enough to pull something like that.

“Oh, no.” I give him a smile which can only be described as awkward. “You just…” I begin to mumble as my cheeks start turning pink. I avert my eyes from his in a fruitless attempt to hide the expression on my face. “You just look…really good today.”

“Just today?” The corners of his lips turn up into a mischievous smirk. “What about yesterday and the days before those?”

Ah, here he goes again. He draws amusement from teasing me like this, the sadist. But this time, I won’t let myself be defeated with his little tricks.

“Just fairly decent.” I throw a smirk of my own his way as I slip my hand away from his to keep it to my side. His shoulders deflate visibly as he pouts.

Success.

“You’re so mean, Yuuri.” He makes a show of wiping away invisible tears. “And I even thought you were really beautiful, too. Especially when you look so peaceful while you’re sleeping.”

I feel my face grow warm and pink at his compliment. Damn, he had won yet again. No one has ever called me anywhere close to beautiful asides from Phichit’s teasing remarks about my butt.

“Your butt is really cute too, Yuuri.” Speaking of my butt. He gives my backside a quick glance before chuckling shortly after. “I was only given the privilege of seeing it when we bathed together in the hot springs.”

I swear his nonexistent sense of shame will burst open the capillaries in my face someday.

“Oh, and your thighs too—“

“Stop talking about my butt and thighs, Viktor!” I shriek and my voice reverberates in the quiet park, causing the few people around to turn their heads to look at me.

Their faces look scandalized. The parents in the park brought their hands over their children’s ears to cover them. As a sense of hot shame begins to wash over me, I bow my head down to avert their gazes as the poor capillaries in my face swell brightly with blood. Goddammit Viktor. As I walk away briskly from the prying eyes of other people, I will the shame to settle down back into the dark, deep recesses of my mind.

Once we reach an empty part of the park, we both take a seat down on a bench. I let out a sigh of relief as I’m finally out of sight of the people whose very ears I’ve scandalized.

“Are you alright, Yuuri?” He asks with a smile on his face as if nothing had happened back there.

“Yeah, I’m alright.” I reply as I watch Makkachin lie on the ground lick her paws clean.

“I’m really sorry if I embarrassed you back there.” His smile looks apologetic now.

 _“You’re apologizing for this just now?”_ was I wanted to say but I decide against it. “It’s alright.” I smile back at him and place my hand over his to show that all has been forgiven.

His cheeks grow pink as my fingers close around his.

“You’re too sweet, Yuuri.” I feel my own grow the same color as we both smile at each other. As we sit with our sides pressed flush against one another, he leans his head against my shorter frame. He hums out an unfamiliar melody as he looks out ahead in the fire-like scenery of trees clad in leaves colored in shades of bright crimson with the passing of the season.

I, on the other hand, look at the sight sitting beside me.  

Anyone who sees us right now might even think that we’re lovers taking a stroll out in the park with their dog.

The thought itself makes the butterflies in my stomach flutter around wildly as if their goal was to make a tornado.

I would be lying to myself if I didn’t say that I would want it to be like that with just the two of us and Makkachin.

Just a month ago, I thought that all my feelings for him were nothing but infatuation—quick and fleeting and gone just as soon as it came. But now, with him making me feel something new in the short span of a month compared to the almost twenty-six years I’ve lived.

I never knew what it meant to love someone, to want to know them more so you can help them and take care of them.

Ever since I met Viktor, I always knew there was more to him than what I saw.

Despite barely even uncovering the secrets those eyes of his hold, I fell in love with him anyway.

Every day I spend with him always leads me sinking further into the depths of those beautiful blue eyes of as it slowly engulfs me with every moment that passes. I’m certain of what I feel for Viktor. What I’m not certain of, however, is how he even feels for me.

Phichit has called me a dense person on several occasions but I have this gut feeling that Viktor also feels the same way that I do with how he expresses himself around me.

However, there’s always this part of me that gnaws at the back of my head saying that it can’t possibly be what I think it is, that it’s all just a short-lived moment of infatuation and playful flirting that meant nothing else. I’m my worst judge most of the time. I can’t even figure out for certain what other people think of me.

Even so, a gut feeling will remain but until I can truly confirm it for myself.

And there’s only one way to do it.

I take in a deep breath as my heart starts ramming wildly against my ribcage. My hands start feeling cold and shaky and my throat feels drier than the Sahara itself. I can’t believe I’m doing this.

“Viktor?” I manage to mumble out as my voice starts getting wobbly at the edges.

Viktor lifts his head up from my shoulder and those impossibly blue eyes of his meet my less than ordinary brown ones.

“C-Can I…” My voice falters and I gulp. “Can I ask you something?”

“Anything.” His voice is smooth and silky to my ears.

“Viktor.” This is it. The moment I’ll finally get my answers. “Do you—“

As if on cue, Viktor’s attention is stolen when Makkachin darts quickly after a squirrel, the leash slipping quickly from my hand before I could even notice.

“Makkachin!” Viktor gets up from the bench as he begins going after her. “Wait, get back here!” As he follows Makkachin into the woods ahead, I get up from the bench as well and go after the both of them. So much for my short-lived courage. It’s going to be a very long while before I work up that kind of courage again to ask him my question.

As the clear mowed grass of the park makes way to thick undergrowth and tall, towering trees, we lose sight of Makkachin and the squirrel she was chasing after.

“Makkachin!” I call out as Viktor and I make our way deeper into the maze of fiery-red trees. It won’t be long until it gets dark out. We should at least find Makkachin before we lose the light or we might just end up getting lost ourselves.

The sun has already set and we still haven’t found Makkachin.

“Makkachin, where are you?” Viktor calls out, his voice echoing in the quiet of the woods. As we tread deeper, the sound of our movement amplifying in the stark emptiness of the woods with only the occasional chirping of a bird to keep us company.

“Makkachin, please come out!”

No answer.

The only response we hear is the crunching of dead leaves against our feet.

As time wears on, I begin to grow frustrated at our aimless attempt in searching for Makkachin.

It was already dark, with only the light of the moon above to guide us.

I don’t even know how deep we’ve walked into the forest or which direction we’re even headed to or came from, for that matter. As I pull my phone up from my pocket to check the time, I find out that we’ve been here for about two hours already.

I let out a frustrated huff as I turn the torchlight of my phone on to make up for the little light the moon can provide. I shine the light to the right.

Nothing but rows upon rows of trees lined up irregularly.

When I turn to the left, I see the exact same thing. I shine the light in front of me, behind me, and yet there’s still no sign of Makkachin to be found.

My legs already feel sore from walking on uneven ground. Viktor, on the other hand, remains as resilient as ever. Probably because of his military training in the past.

My knees feel like buckling themselves underneath my weight but we keep walking and walking, with every direction we turn towards looking the exact same as the last. Great. We’re officially lost in the dark with no way of knowing which way is out.

“Makkachin!” Viktor’s voice startles the birds settling in for the night, sending them flying off their perch.

“Makkachin, please show yourself!” I yell out as my voice only travels through the deep darkness of the forest. As I hear a rustling sound behind me, I feel a surge of hope rising in my chest. Finally, now Makkachin is here and all we have to worry about now is getting out of here—

It was a squirrel.

Not only am I lost in a forest in the cold of night, now nature is apparently mocking me. Wonderful.

I click my tongue and take in a deep lungful of cold air in an attempt to calm my nerves down and clear my head. At this point, we’re going to be here all night sleeping out in the cold.

God, if only I had held on to the leash tightly, then I wouldn’t have gotten ourselves into this situation. Way to go, Yuuri.

“Yuuri.” Viktor’s breath forms a puff of smoke that quickly dissipates in the cold autumn night.

“Do you want to take a break for a bit?”

The look in his face now was that of concern. My legs are aching. Yes, I would very much like to take a short break, thank you very much. I give him a silent nod and sit myself down on the thick carpet of fallen leaves as I lean my back against a tree. As I fold my knees to my chest, Viktor takes a seat beside me.

“It’s cold.” My breath comes out in clouds of smoke as I speak. I rub my hands against my side in an effort to keep myself warm. For an unusually warm day, the night feels chilly. I suddenly regret not wearing as many layers as I usually would this morning. As if sensing my current predicament, Viktor presses his side flush against mine and wraps an arm around me to pull me close towards him.

“Thank you, Viktor.” I say in a hushed tone. I can’t even bother to smile or blush or look at him now with the frustration building up in my guts.

“Yuuri, are you alright?” His voice is calm, a stark contrast to my current state of mind.

Makkachin’s gone because of my carelessness. We’re lost, cold, starving and disoriented in the dark with no way of getting out all because of me. It was supposed to be an ordinary day wherein Viktor, Makkachin and I would head back home safely to get dinner and call it a day. Yes, of course I’m alright.

“No.” Now that I think back on it, this isn’t the only time I messed something up.

“We’re supposed to be home by now eating dinner but now we’re lost, cold and starving.”

“We’ll be alright, Yuuri,” he tries to soothe me but it doesn’t work. All I can think of is how frustrated I am at myself for letting myself ruin something again.

“As soon as we find Makkachin, we’ll find our way out of here and go home.”

If only it was so easy to believe those words and call it done.

I stay silent for a while and bury my face in between my knees before speaking up quietly. “I’m sorry, Viktor.”

“This is all my fault.” I breathe out a heavy sigh before pursing my lips in a tight line.

“If only I was attentive enough, Makkachin wouldn’t run off and we wouldn’t be in this situation right now.”

My voice starts to crack at the edges knowing the major inconvenience I’ve caused him. “I’m so careless.”

“It’s alright, Yuuri, I don’t blame you for anything—“

“No, it’s not alright!” Viktor’s shoulders jump back a little as I raise my voice at him. And yet, he doesn’t let go of his hold around me.

“We’re cold, hungry and lost out here because of me!” I swallow the lump in my throat as the corners of my eyes start watering.

“Makkachin is lost and I don’t even know if we’re ever going to find her or get out of here!”

“Yuuri, that’s not true,” he says as calmly as he can despite my panicked state.

“We’ll find Makkachin and a way out of here, I promise.” He takes my hand as if to affirm his statement but I only shake my head as I flood my own head of the many instances I’ve failed in the past.

“I always ruin everything.” I say quietly as I feel my own tears tracing its track down my cheeks.

“I ruined my career and Yuuko and Nishigori’s business, among many other things.”

I sniffle down the snot threatening to escape from my nose. “I failed everyone who believed in me all because I wasn’t strong enough to continue skating.”

Viktor falls quiet beside me.

“I failed Vicchan for not being there with him in his final moments.” I take my glasses off to wipe my eyes with the back of my hand before sliding them back on my face.

“My parents, Mari-neechan, my coach and Minako-sensei all worked so hard to support me in my skating yet all I did was fail them and put their efforts into vain.”

“Every time I visit the inn and look at the medals and the photos of me in my career years that my parents put up, I can’t help but feel sad at what more I could have achieved if only I hadn’t ruined everything.”

“I can’t even look at anything related to skating anymore.” I pause for a bit as I feel my breath hitch. “It stings whenever I’m reminded of the very thing I gave up on.” I let out a bitter laugh at how pathetic I must sound right now.

“I know that everybody keeps assuring me that it’s alright, that they’ll support me in whatever I do, but I can’t help feeling that they’re only saying that so that they won’t hurt my feelings.” I let out a sniffle and wipe my nose with the back of my hand. “I’m sure they think of me badly in their own thoughts.”

“When people reassure me, I feel comforted, even if only for a moment.”

“But…” I clench my free hand into a fist, my nails digging into my palm. “Whenever I’m left alone with my thoughts, that ugly part of my mind just twists their words around.” The corners of my lips turn up into a bitter grimace as I lay my thoughts out bare and naked for Viktor to see in all its shameful glory.

“And you know what, V-Viktor?” As I tilt my head up to look at him, my eyesight is blurred with another onslaught of tears, the thick, fat drops rolling down my cheeks like an overflowing storm drain.

“I believe them. All of them.” Viktor’s expression now is pained and confused as he cups my cheek in that warm, warm hand of his. As the blue glow of his fingers ghost against my skin, he finds himself silent and unable to speak. I wouldn’t blame him for it. I’m such a pain to calm down, anyway.

“I c-can’t think like normal people do b-because I’m not.” I take in large lungfuls of air as I begin to hiccup. I’ve always been an ugly crier. “I’m not even sure what people think or feel about me anymore despite what they say or do.” Viktor continues listening to me silently.

“I’m not even certain anymore if my family really is proud of me despite my shortcomings.”

“I-I’m not—“ My voice hitches and I swallow back a gulp.

“I’m n-not even sure if you—“Another hiccup. My heart drums painfully fast against my ribcage.

“I’m not e-even sure if the way you are around m-me is j-just for fun or a joke or—“ Amidst the tears that blur my vision, I can see the pained look on his face distort visibly as his eyes widen. “I—“

Before I can say anything further, I find his lips pressed flush against mine as he cradles my cheeks tenderly in his hands. My mind goes blank.  

As his lips part away from mine, our breaths mingle together in small little puffs in the little space separating our lips. He presses his forehead against mine and the tips of his fingers run feather-light touches against the side of my face as if I was something that could break with the slightest touch. As we lock our eyes together in a heated gaze, I find myself unable to speak or think.

“Does this look like a joke to you, Yuuri?” He finally says after a while, the hurt tone in his voice digging into my skin like needles. As his eyes reflect the same hurt in his voice, I feel my own heart sink into the pit in my stomach.

“Do you know what your sister told me, Yuuri?”

I shake my head, my mouth unable to form words.

“She told me to take care of you.” The tone in his voice now is bittersweet as if my thoughts themselves hurt him.

“She also told me that you can be your worst enemy sometimes.” My eyes find themselves gazing down, unable to look directly at him at this sudden turn of events. My lips curl into a thin, tight line as his gentle touch wipes away the tears from my eyes.

“Yuuri, look at me.” His fingers lift my chin up so my gaze is directed towards him. “Do you even realize just how much you mean to your friends and family? To me?”

_To me?_

Those words echo in my mind for a brief moment.

“V-Viktor, I…” I finally say, but my throat closes up before I can even say anything further, and my brain in a mess as I search for words to say but can’t.

“Why…?”

“Yuuri, oh Yuuri.” He cups my face in his hands again and brings me in for another kiss. It feels like a daze, as his lips lock again mine and when he pulls away, I’m left with my cheeks burning bright and hot.

“You’re so beautiful, kind and caring. You think about others more than yourself.” His thumb grazes my lower lip as those sad blue eyes of his drill holes into the depths of my soul.

“You gave me a home when I had nowhere else to turn to, you gave my life meaning when there was none,” he continues, his breath hitching now as the watery depths of his eyes threaten to spill out.

“You don’t just how lonely I was before you found me, Yuuri.” Even when he cries, he is still a sight to behold, his tears cascading down the sculpted features of his face like a gentle waterfall.

“Before you found me, I was alone with no one and nowhere to run to.”

“Before I met you, my life had no sense of direction.”

“I didn’t care how long I lived or how I soon I died, or if I vanish into obscurity like the thousands of other lives that I’ve taken.” I feel as if one of many dead weights I can’t possibly begin to comprehend had been dropped from his tired, aching shoulders.

“I couldn’t think it was possible to live anymore with what I did and what I failed to do.” His voice was filled with a bitter sense of remorse.

“But then I met you, Yuuri.” The corners of his lips curl up into a sad, strained smile that stayed still despite slowly crumbling at the edges. The look in his eyes were a mixture of fondness mixed altogether in an amalgam of sorrow and regret I can only hope to uncover.

“You gave my life meaning again. You made me look forward to living as long as I can again. You showed me just how beautiful this world is and just how wonderful it is to be alive.” The tears in his keep flowing ceaselessly as mine does. “Throughout the short time we’ve been together, you made me feel things I never thought I’d ever feel again, Yuuri.”

How can someone as much of a failure as myself possibly begin to inspire someone such as him?

“You make me feel alive again, Yuuri.” He brings his arms around me in a tight, warm embrace. His fingers begin to thread through my hair tenderly as he rubs soothing circles into my back. “When I told you that I was thankful that you found me, I meant it.”

“I couldn’t even begin to imagine how someone as sinful as me found someone as beautiful as you.”

_Beautiful._

I’ve never been called that word before.

“You make me happy, Yuuri.” His hold around me tightens as he buries his face against the crook of my neck, his tears a warm sensation against my night-chilled skin. “It hurts me to know that you’d beat yourself up like that despite how wonderfully beautiful you are.”

“I want to know you even more, Yuuri.” He says as he unwinds his arms from me to place his hands firmly against my shoulders. As the moonlight’s blue glow filters through the treetops, it illuminates the tear tracks on his cheeks like luminous rivers flowing out of the deep blue sea that are his eyes. His eyes, although red and puffed up from crying, look as ethereal as ever.

_Beautiful._

“I want to make you happy just as much as you made me happy.” He smiles a crooked smile as my breath stills.

“I want the same for you too, Viktor,” I mutter out softly as I reach out to caress the defined contours of his cheek, his pale skin glowing under my touch. “From the moment I met you, I knew that you’ve been hurting. Hurting much more than I ever have.” It’s true. Every time I see those beautiful eyes of his taunt me with a glimpse of whatever it is that lurks beneath its depths, I feel the desire to know grow even more.

“And I want to help you, in whatever I can.”

“You already have, Yuuri.” His smile is sweet and arm despite the frigid evening air as he places his hand over mine. “In so many ways already.”

“I want to know, Viktor.” I say with a crack in my voice. “I want to relieve you of the pain you’ve been carrying so I can help you better.”

“It breaks my heart every time I want to help but don’t know what to do. I want to know.”

“Oh, Yuuri.” He smiles at me faintly as a lone tear escapes from his eye. “It means so much to me that you care so much.”

“When I’m ready…” He leans in to plant a soft peck upon my forehead. “I will tell you everything there is you need to know about me.”

I give him a nod. I will wait for as long as it takes.

“Soon, there will be no secrets between us.”

I nod again and I wrap my arms around him to bury my face against the crook of his neck to breathe in his scent. He wraps his around me in return presses his cheek against the top of my head as his fingers ruffle through my hair. For a moment, we stay still, our breaths and the beating of our hearts the only sounds reverberating in the quiet of the forest.

“I love you, Yuuri.”

My heart stops for a moment as those words begin registering in my mind. As my face only grows hotter, I bury my face against the crook of his neck even further as I tighten my hold around him even more. Never in my life would I have thought that I would hear someone say those words to me, those four simple words that would lead my life into uncharted territories.

_He loves me._

Mustering what little courage I have into my throat, my lips press into a smile against his neck before I open my mouth.

“I…I love you too, Viktor.”

I feel my shoulders shake as I start breaking out in laughter upon remembering that two hours ago, I just lost my chance in confirming my suspicions. But now, two hours later, lost and cold in a forest, I finally get my answer. I couldn’t be any happier knowing that the person I love loves me too. I’ve never felt anything like this in my entire life. Who knew that Makkachin running off would lead to this?  
Speaking of Makkachin—

“Viktor!” I remove myself from Viktor as I sit upright. “Makkachin! We have to continue finding Makkachin!”

“Oh, right.” He lets out a chuckle as he wipes the tears from his face while getting up. I do the same too.

“I hope she’s okay.” Suddenly, I hear the leaves rustling behind me and my senses are heightened at the possibility of having disturbed a dangerous nocturnal animal. I jolt up and get behind Viktor as the rustling only grows closer and closer, my throat tightening as the noise only gets louder. Then, out of the darkness, I see a small brown paw emerge into the sliver of moonlight shining through the treetops.

It was Makkachin.

I breathe in a sigh of relief.

“Makkachin, you’re here!” Viktor immediately runs towards her to pick her up and cradle the little puppy into his arms. “Do you have any idea how long we’ve looked for you?” He gives her head a pat before hugging her little form close. Looks like Makkachin found us first before we found her. “You silly little puppy, just running off like that,” Viktor chastises her, but the puppy only gives a small yip in return and Viktor practically melts.

“Well, at least we have Makkachin now.” I chuckle as I walk closer to give her brown curly fur a ruffle. “All we need to do now is find a way out of here.”

As if sensing our predicament, Makkachin hops out of Viktor’s arms and starts sniffing at the ground. I think I see what she’s doing.

“Viktor, I think she knows the way out!” As she makes her way ahead of us, I take out my phone to shine the torchlight at her. “Good girl, Makkachin!”

“Alright, let’s follow her!”

Hand in hand, Viktor and I follow Makkachin as she sniffs her way out of the forest. In no time at all, Makkachin leads us out of the forest and back into the park where we came from.

“What a smart dog,” Viktor coos as he gives Makkachin a pat on the head before picking her back up. “Anyway, Yuuri.” As he turns to look at me fondly, his lips are curved into the brightest smile I’ve ever seen. “Shall we go home now?”

Gladly.

 

The drive home was spent in warm, companionable silence as Viktor places his hand over mine on the brakes. As the interplay of light and dark cast shadows onto his face, he leans over his seat to press a kiss against my cheek. As he pulls away, his glowing thumb brushes against my knuckles diligently as if memorizing the feel of them against his skin.  My heart races all over again and the butterflies in my stomach flitter about happily. As soon as we get home, the three of us get dinner before deciding to call it a day early.

As Viktor tucks himself underneath the covers, I invite myself in and lie down beside him before wrapping my arms around his figure. He lets out a low chuckle as he turns around to face me.

“Does this mean I’m your boyfriend now, Yuuri?” He says, his voice teasing as his hand rests against my waist.

“Of course.” I smile at him warmly as a pleasant blush dusts my cheeks. I take his hand in mine and press a kiss against his knuckles. The gesture seems to please him as he pulls himself close towards me and my mind explodes into a thousand fireworks as the warmth of his lips press against mine. His hand cups the side of my face tenderly as I kiss him back, our lips moving languidly against one another as we drink in each other’s breaths. As he breaks the kiss, he gives me one goofy smile before pulling me close again to press a kiss against my forehead.

“I love you, Yuuri.”

I couldn’t be any happier.

“I love you too, Viktor.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another update is out and feelings are running high between Viktor and Yuuri! :D  
> Oh boi, I hope y'all are ready for the ride
> 
>  
> 
> To be honest, I actually almost gave up writing this fic halfway since it didn't really get the readership I wanted it to get.  
> But then I realized that although few, there are people who really enjoy my writing and would like to see more from this fic.  
> And with that, I'll try my hardest to keep bringing out a fresh new update every week! :D
> 
> Thank you so much for taking the time to read this! <3  
> If you liked it, please leave a kudos or take the time to leave a comment! :D  
> It really does wonders to my motivation to hear from others about my work!
> 
> If you want to talk, become friends, or see me shitpost, follow me on twitter [@chattoyant_zee](https://twitter.com/chattoyant_zee)


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> just a heads up!
> 
> rating for this fic has changed to explicit!
> 
> warning for sexual content up ahead  
> (and really bad puns)

“Wake up, sleepy head.” A familiar voice brings me out of my slumber as I feel something soft and warm press against my forehead.

“Just five more minutes,” I mumble as I flip myself over to the other side of the bed to wrap my arms around a pillow and bury my face into it.

I smile to myself sleepily as I breathe in the scent of the head that laid atop it last night.

“Yuuuuri…” Viktor whines as I pull the covers over my head to keep the sunlight out of my face. “Get up already, I even made breakfast for you.”

Despite my apparent sleepiness, I can only feel my own smile grow wider at how he went through all the trouble of making something for me, let alone learning how to.

“Can’t it wait?” I can barely contain the smile in my voice as I whine back in response.

Viktor lets out a mock gasp. “You would let a meal made by me, the light of your life go cold and untouched?” He feigns a shocked tone.

“If it means getting five more minutes of sleep, yes,” I tease back in the most deadpan voice I could manage.

“You’re unbelievable, Katsuki Yuuri.” Viktor scoffs as I feel a weight settle on the other side of the bed.

“I guess I’ll just have to…” He pauses in his sentence as his voice drops an octave into something evil and sinister.

“…Make you, then.”

Immediately, the covers come off flying, exposing me to the vile sunlight seeping its unwelcome rays into my pores. Viktor is on his knees and pounces on me like a wild animal that has caught its prey. He smiles at me menacingly as his figure looms over me, his arms raised in the air threateningly.

 “Be prepared to meet your maker, Yuuri.” His lips curl into a malicious smirk as his predatory eyes roam around me as if he’s thinking of ways of the hundreds of ways to devour me.

“Stop, please, I beg you!” I cry out, but to no avail.

I flail my arms about to fight him off but he pins them above my head as he cackles of my impending doom.

He lowers his head to my belly and bites the hem of my shirt to pull it up and expose the skin beneath.

Then, he presses his lips against my skin and he--

He blows a raspberry against my belly and I’m reduced to a giggling mess as waves of laughter roll off my body.

“Wait, Viktor, stop—“ I let out a loud laugh as he only lowers his arms to tickle my side while blowing against my stomach to make things worse.

This is pure torture. I squirm underneath him and kick my legs and my now-free arms in an attempt to kick him off. But alas, he is much too strong for me to handle. So, with a warrior’s resolve, I accept my imminent death as he tickles my sides and forces a series of breathless laughter out of me.

“Viktor, that tickles--!”

 Before my vitals completely shut down, he shows me mercy as he finally ceases his mindless torture and hops off me with a smug smirk on his face.  

“V-Viktor…” I manage to croak out as my chest heaves heavily to compensate for my need of oxygen into my bloodstream.

“W-What was that all about?” My laugh sounds breathless as I finally sit up on the bed.

“Consider it your alarm, Yuuri.” He huffs as he dusts the front of the apron tied around his waist.

 Not long enough, he wipes off the smug smirk on his face as the corners of his lips turn into a sweet, faint smile. As he wraps his arms around me, I feel myself do the same as my cheeks turn a faint pink. His hand reaches up my face to brush my fringes away before pressing a soft kiss against my forehead.  As I close my eyes to relish in the warmth of his lips against my skin, I practically melt.

“Good morning, Yuuri,” he says as he pulls away.

Even with my sight blurred, the way the sunlight bathes his features in a thin sheen of sunshine looks absolutely breathtaking on him.

I wish I could say the same for myself—drool on my face, messy hair and sand in my eyes.

“Morning, Viktor.” I give him a sheepish chuckle before breaking away from the hug to pick my glasses up from the night stand and put them on. As I hop off the bed, I stand up upright to give the air a whiff—it smells like bacon and eggs.

“Let’s eat breakfast?” I suggest, and he practically lights up enthusiastically as he hops off the bed himself and happily skips ahead into the dining area.

As I take a seat in front of the table, Viktor sits across me proudly as I look at the breakfast food he set on the table—nicely fried slices of bacon, omelet rice and some toast and a glass of milk.

“Wow, Viktor, where did you learn to make this?” This is such a simple meal and yet I can’t help myself feel amazed with how he managed to make all of this.

“Yuuri, you let me help you out with the cooking all the time,” he replies brightly. “Of course I’m bound to learn how to do it myself.”

“Well, I’m really glad I decided to let you help out.”

I smile at him brightly as I cut through the omelet rice with my spoon to reveal fluffy rice cooked in tomato sauce along with pieces of bacon. Sparing my mouth of having to water even further, I take a spoonful into my mouth and my taste buds explode into a wonderful flavor sensation.

“Wow, Viktor.” I take in another spoonful. “This tastes really great!”

“Oh, it’s nothing, really!” Viktor beams at the response as he dismisses the compliment with a flattered wave of the hand.

As I continue eating the food Viktor made for me, Makkachin climbs up my leg drooling. She probably smelled the scent of Viktor’s amazing cooking.

“No, no, Makkachin, you can’t have any.” I waggle my finger in front of her, to which she whines.

“You have your own food, don’t you?” I give her head a small pat.

“Aww, looks like Makkachin really likes my cooking.” Viktor looks pleased with himself as he takes a piece of toast and smears butter on it. “I made her breakfast from scratch today instead of feeding her the ones in cans and she really loved it!”

“Wow, no wonder why she wants more!” I let out a chuckle as I slice a piece of the omelet and put it on my hand. “Well, I guess she can have some more.”

Without hesitation, Makkachin immediately goes for my hand to eat the piece of egg on it. She boofs happily before climbing off my leg and skittering her little paws towards Viktor.

It’s been a month now since we found Makkachin in that alley and she got bigger, she’s only gotten more energetic. Viktor has also been living with me for two months and two weeks now.

Also…

Viktor slides his foot playfully against my bare leg from underneath the table, chuckling at me from where he’s seated.

It’s been three weeks since Viktor and I professed our feelings for each other in that forest. Even until now, I still feel myself blush recalling the first kiss we shared together.

I nudge his leg back playfully and he strikes back higher this time, with his foot on my knee.

Flirting on the breakfast table?

How very Viktor.

As I nudge him back, my foot slips underneath his apron.

Instead of my foot touching brushing against fabric, it brushes against something thick and long and—

My foot recoils as if I burned it and my face burns as hot as the surface of the son. He was not wearing any underwear underneath his apron, how did I not notice that before when he was tackling me? Or did he just shape-shift his lower half naked to tease me?

“How naughty, Yuuri.” He presses a fingers against his lips as he throws a mischievous smirk at me.

“Viktor, what did I tell you about not wearing clothes in this house?!”

“But I _am_ wearing clothes, Yuuri.” He gestures to his sweater (an exact copy of what I’m wearing at the moment) and apron as if to make a point.

“T-That’s not my point!” I shriek as I pull the hem of my sweater down to cover the shame on my crotch. “You can’t sit bare-assed on the chair!”

“Take it easy, Yuuri, it’s not like this is the first time you’ve discovered me naked.” He laughs the issue of his apparent nudity off. “And it’s not going to be the last, either.” He throws a wink my way and the aforementioned shame only grows even further.

I swallow the invisible lump in my throat and I practically shove the food in my mouth to will the embarrassment away.

Viktor watches me from across the table with sadistic amusement.

After finishing my breakfast, I quickly excuse myself to the shower and turn up the water as hot as I can.

 

“Viktor, would you help me carry these crates to the truck?” I gesture to said crates behind me as I carry one into the back of the truck. With the weather only getting colder as the season slowly progresses, we have to harvest whatever we could to be sold before winter comes around and damages all the crops.

“Sure.” Viktor bends down to take a crate in his arms and walks to the back of the truck to put it among the others. After the both of us finish packing the crates into the back, Makkachin hops into the back before I close the latch and start the engine.

“Do you think Makkachin will be alright in the back?” Viktor looks out of the window to look at Makkachin sticking her tongue out at the air as she places her little paws on the ledge.

“Yeah, I think she’ll be alright.” I place my hands on the wheel and put my foot to the pedal. “She’s a smart dog, so I’m sure she won’t jump off the car or anything.”

“But Yuuri!” Viktor looks practically worried as he places his hand over mine on the wheel to stop me from driving off.  “What if she does jump off?” His lips are curled into a pout as he flashes those puppy dog eyes at me (which he knows gets me every time).

“Oh, alright, alright.” I let out a chuckle as I give his head a playful pat, to which he visibly softens at. “You can let Makkachin ride in the front.”

Without saying another word, Viktor hops out of the car to get Makkachin from the back. As he takes his seat at the front, he places Makkachin on his lap and strokes her fur gently as he makes baby noises at her while squishing her cheeks together.

“Well then, shall we head off?” I smile brightly at him as I watch him play with the little puppy with delight in his eyes.

“Alright!” Viktor nods his head and Makkachin yips in response as I press my foot against the pedal and begin driving off the hill to head to Yuuko and Nishigori’s grocery store.

 

“Wow, Yuuri, you came with your boyfriend again today!” The triplets say in unison as Viktor enters the grocery store with carrying a crate of vegetables. “And not to mention, you’re wearing the same clothes every time we see you!”

I’ve already asked Viktor why he always shapeshifts his clothes to look exactly like mine and even told him that he can wear anything he want. He only shook his head at the prospect of wearing anything else and insisted that he wanted to wear the same thing as me to show that we belonged to each other. It was a little embarrassing but cute, to be honest.

“Well, he wanted to help out, all along.” I chuckle at the triplets as they follow Viktor with their eyes, gawking as he places the crate down on the floor to begin stocking the shelves with new produce.

“The two of you are really cute, Yuuri!” Axel comments out loud as she hides her giggle behind her hand.

“Right! You look really perfect for each other, right, Loop?” Lutz nudges her sister at the side and Lutz nods enthusiastically.

“Thank you, I guess….?” I reply with a sheepish smile as a faint blush settles on my cheeks. The triplets skitter off their way to head to the entrance where Makkachin was sitting.

I walk towards the vegetable aisle and crouch beside Viktor to open up the crate and start arranging the vegetables on the refrigerated shelves.

“Hello, stranger.” Viktor gives me a playful smirk as he places cabbages on the shelf on his side. “Haven’t seen you around here.”

Before I could break out into a chuckle, I compose myself and smirk back at him.

Well, two can play it that game.

“Haven’t see you around here either. Might I ask where you’re from?” I pick up a carrot on the crate and start making a neatly-arranged stack on the shelf.

“I think the right question here is where I’m headed to, stranger.” He lets out a low chuckle as he continues emptying his own crate.

“But for some reason…” His hands stop what he’s doing as he starts leaning towards me, a mischievous smirk on his face.

“I don’t know how to get there.”

“And what seems to be the problem, then?” I feel my heart rate skyrocketing and my cheeks threatening to turn red as he begins having the upper hand on me. I can’t lose my composure yet.

“You see…” He lifts my chin up with his fingers and he moves closer towards me, our faces only mere inches apart.

I’m losing.

My cheeks finally heat up and I turn red to my ears as I feel his breath tickling against my lips as if teasing me of what’s to come.

“I seem to be lost in your eyes, handsome stranger.”

“Flirting on the job, I see.” A familiar voice sounds out from behind before erupting in pure, unadulterated laughter.

I can feel steam coming out of my ears as I tear myself away from Viktor, who, on the other hand, looks pleased with himself as he manages to turn me into a blushing mess yet again.

“You always seem to really love each other, huh?” Nishigori comments with an amused quirk of the eyebrow.

“That’s right!” Viktor answers brightly as his lips turn into that adorable heart-shaped smile of his.

“I love Yuuri so much and I want everyone to know it!”

“What a romantic.” My blood pressure only reaches the normal thresholds with every laughter that comes out of Nishigori’s mouth.

“Oh, Yuuri.” Nishigori gives me a clap on the back.

“Keep him,” Nishigori whispers into my ear before walking off with a wide grin on his face.

“Looks like I got his approval,” Viktor comments with a chuckle as he continues with stocking up the vegetable aisle.

“I feel so honored to be approved by the people in Yuuri’s life.” He says proudly while wiping an invisible tear off his eye.  

“You’re far too charming for your own good, Viktor.” I let out a soft laugh as I continue working on my neat stack of carrots. “Not that it’s a problem or anything.”

“Because you just love me so much, don’t you?” He throws a wink my way and my lips quirk up into a smile before breaking out into laughter.

“Maybe I do.” I wink back at him for good measure before resuming my tasks.

After the vegetable aisles have been stocked with fresh, new produce, Yuuko walks towards us with a bright smile on her face.

“Ah, thank you so much for growing all these produce, Yuuri!” Yuuko gives me a short bow before we make our way out of the grocery store.

“Oh, no, no.” I wave off the compliment with a flattered chuckle as I scratch the back of my head.

“It really wouldn’t have been possible without Viktor’s help too.”

“My, the two of you working hard together sounds so cute!” Yuuko gives a girlish giggle as her shoulders shake with laughter.

“So, Viktor.” Yuuko turns her head to look at him. “How is life with Yuuri going? The last time we visited, you weren’t quite boyfriends yet, right?”

I blush.

“Life with Yuuri is…really great.” The corners of his lips curl into a genuine smile as his cheeks and the bridge of his nose get a faint dusting of pink on them.

“He always looks out for me and Makkachin every single day.” He lets out a soft chuckle as he reaches out for my hand to clasp it in his.

I feel myself smile as I give Viktor a glance, still every bit as radiant as the day I first met him.

“Did you know Yuuri even taught me how to read and write in Japanese?” He blurts out proudly.

“I can’t read kanji very well but I’m getting there all because of him!”

“Wow, Yuuri, you really do love him, don’t you?” Yuuko swats my shoulder in jest before giggling and my blush only deepens pleasantly. “I’m really happy to finally see you happy with someone.”

“Yeah.” I mumble silently as my smile only gets goofier and more apparent as I run my thumb against Viktor’s knuckles. “I’m really happy to be with him too.”

And I mean it. Every day with him has been nothing but new things I never would have thought life would be kind enough to let me experience. Every day, I wake up beside him and fall asleep beside him. With every day we spend together, my heart only falls for him more than it already has. He may be embarrassing and lack common sense at times, and he may be sadistic with how he loves to tease me…but.

I wouldn’t change him for the world.

“Well, if you’re planning on getting married anytime soon, let me be the first one to know, okay?” Yuuko says brightly before letting out a sunny chuckle.

Now that I think about it, I’ve never even thought of getting married given how our relationship is still so young.

I can imagine it now, living out the rest of my days with Viktor by my side. That would mean not giving my parents any grandchildren but just the thought of growing old with someone I love and tending the farm together as a cute old couple sounds so…wonderful.

I know I’m thinking too far ahead when our relationship is not even a month old yet but just the thought of it makes me look forward to living every day, just as long as he’s beside me to live life with.

My cheeks only heat up even further thinking of all the different possibilities my life holds with him to spend life with. I’ve never been one to think so far ahead in the future, since I thought I probably won’t live that long anyway. Now that I have Viktor with me, I finally allowed myself to look ahead and accept life as it is.

“Who knows, we might even get married before you know it.” Viktor says and his laughter rings out like the pleasant ringing of bells. My grip on his hand only grows even tighter as I can barely even contain the smile on my face.

Yuuko laughs in response.

“Well Viktor, I trust that you’ll take care of Yuuri, right?” She smiles at him as she leans towards him and places her hands behind her back. “Yuuri’s a really wonderful person and I want the both of you to be happy, okay?”

“Of course.” Viktor lets out a happy little chuckle as he lets go of my hand to wrap his arm around my back. As he pulls me closer towards him, I can only let out a tiny little giggle as the blushing on my cheeks wouldn’t tone down. Not that I don’t mind him holding me like this, that is.

“Yuuri has been nothing but kind and loving, after all!”

“That’s great to hear!” Yuuko beams and straightens her back up before reaching into her back pocket. She takes out her wallet and fishes out several yen bills. “Anyway, here is payment for hard work!”

“Oh, but Yuuko-chan…” I take the bills and see that she paid more than usual. “This is too much, I can’t possibly take this.”

“Oh, that’s nonsense.” Yuuko dismisses the thought with the wave of a hand. “You’ve worked so hard to provide is with the best produce, after all. Consider it as payment for your hard work!”

“But Yuuko-chan—“ She cuts me off abruptly before I can say any more.

“I won’t have any of it, Yuuri!” She insists as she presses my hand against my chest. “You’ve done so much for us already, after all.” Yuuko gives me a smile.

“Well…” I give the bills a second look before letting out a chuckle. “Alright then, if you insist.” I take my own wallet out from my back pocket to put the money in.

“Thank you so much, Yuuko-chan.” I give her a small bow before straightening my back up.

“Oh, no, no, you deserve it after all.” She chuckles. “You might want to treat yourselves to something too!”

“Right.” I smile at her. “Anyway, Yuuko-chan. We’ll be on our way now.”

“Makkachin!” Viktor calls out for the puppy and she skitters towards him from where she was lounging with her belly exposed to the triplets. Viktor crouches down on the floor and takes hold of Makkachin’s paw to raise it in a wave. “Bye, bye, Axel, Lutz and Loop!”

“Bye Makkachin!” The three of them say in unison. “Bye Viktor, bye Yuuri!”

After all the goodbyes have been exchanged between everyone, we excuse ourselves with Makkachin in tow and start driving our way home.

Not five minutes into our drive, I spot a familiar figure at the sidewalk sipping at a cup of what looks like to be a frothy frappuccino. His hair was a dark and short, with a fringe cut straight across his forehead and his skin was that familiar golden-tan complexion.

“Phichit?!” I shout out from inside the car and sure enough, Phichit’s head shoots up to look at me and he drops his frothy drink on the ground, spilling it on the pavement.

“Yuuri?!”

I park the car beside a nondescript building and immediately turn the engine off.

“Yuuri, is something wrong?” Viktor asks.

“It’s Phichit, Viktor!”

“Who’s that?” He gives me a confused tilt of the head.

“Wait, just get out of the car and I’ll introduce the two of you to each other.”

 I take the keys out of the engine before tossing them into my back pocket and getting out of the car. Viktor follows suit with Makkachin trailing behind him as I make my way to Phichit. I was aware that he was in Japan for the NHK Trophy but he never told me that he was going to be right here in Hasetsu.

“Phichit!” I run towards him with my arms out wide before bringing him in a tight embrace. The last time I ever saw him was in Sochi so it has been three years already since we saw each other. “You never told me you were coming to visit!”

“Well, I always was a man of surprises, wasn’t I?” Phichit’s familiar laughter rings out as he hugs me back and gives me a series of pats on the back. “It’ so good to see you again, Yuuri!” He says as he pulls away from the hug and places both of his hands on my shoulders.

“I heard you became a farmer after you retired. So how’s life been treating you? Catch anyone hot?” He winks at me.

“Well….” I turn my head to look at Viktor standing behind me, who waves in response.

“Oh my god Yuuri, shut up!” Phichit looks absolutely flabbergasted as Viktor walks towards us. He pulls me in closer and whispers to my ear.

“Yuuri, he’s hot.”

Can’t say he’s wrong.

“Hey, are you the Phichit Yuuri was talking about?” Viktor says as he flashes a smile at him. It would be an understatement to say that Phichit looks absolutely charmed as he takes his outstretched hand to shake it.

“My name is Viktor. I’m Yuuri’s boyfriend.”

“I’m Phichit but you can call me your future brother-in-law.”

I feel myself blush yet again at Phichit’s comment.

“A-Anyway, Phichit, why are you here? You didn’t tell me that you’d be visiting.”

“Well, Yuuri, I _was_ going to tell you, but I wanted to surprise you instead!” He says with a laugh.

“But what about Celestino? Doesn’t he know where you are right now?”

“Of course, I’m not that cruel to leave him hanging.” Phichit chuckles mischievously. “He just told me to come back to the hotel before midnight.”

“Wow, but he’s really something to let you off so far away from the hotel, huh.”

The last time Celestino let Phichit wander around a foreign country by himself, he didn’t come back to the hotel we were staying until after Celestino himself sent the police to look for us. Not only that, but we had a head-splitting headache after all the alcohol we drank the night before that.

 “He trusts me now, pretty much.”

Yeah, pretty much.

“Anyway, Phichit, do you want to come visit my place? It’s just a short drive away.”

“Sure! I’ve always been looking forward to see your place since I got here!” He grins at me brightly before perking his head up to look at something behind Viktor.

“Ah, Yuuri, is that…Vicchan?” He raises an eyebrow as he sees the little puppy raise her head and scamper towards me to nose at my leg. “But I thought he…”

“Yeah, he did,” I say regretfully with a faint smile on his face. “This one’s Makkachin.” I crouch down on my knees to give her a little pat on the head. “Viktor found him in an alley when we were picking up some supplies from a store.”

“She’s real cute, isn’t she?” Viktor crouches down behind me and smiles as he props up his chin against my shoulder.

“She sure is.” Phichit chuckles as he stretches out his hand, to which Makkachin noses at.

“Anyway.” Viktor and stand back upright and I reach into my back pocket for the car keys. “Let’s go now, shall we?”

“Alright!”

Viktor had to sit in the back with Makkachin in our trip back home with a pout plastered on his face.

 

“Wow, Yuuri, you really made a living out of this whole farm thing, didn’t you?” Phichit comments as he looks around the farm. “How did you get all this land all to yourself?”

“Well, after my uncle passed away, there was no one left to take care of this property so I took it upon myself to take care of it instead.” I push open the front door of the house and let ourselves inside.

“Wow, so now you make a business out of growing vegetables?”

“I also sell eggs and milk, too.” I let out a soft chuckle as Phichit comfortably plops himself on the sofa whereas Viktor sits opposite him with Makkachin lounging on his lap.

“That’s really amazing, Yuuri!”

“Oh, no, it’s nothing, really,” I wave off the compliment with an awkward scratch on the back of the head. “I wouldn’t have done it without Viktor helping me out.”

“So the two of you work together here?” Phichit looks at Viktor to give him a smile. “The two of you look just like a rural married couple living in the countryside with their dog!”

“Well, for one, we’re not married…” I mumble with a slight blush on my face as Viktor cranes his head to look at me.

“Yet.” Phichit gladly continues with a teasing laughter. “If you don’t make me your best man when you two get married, I will take that offense with me to the grave.”

“P-Phichit, we’ve only been in a relationship for three weeks!” My face turns redder.

“Who says true love has to wait? Right, Viktor?” Phichit gives him a wink and Viktor only bursts out laughing.

“A-Anyway.” I wring out my hands in front of me as I will the blush on my cheeks to recede back into my capillaries. “Would like some coffee?”

“I could really use one.” Phichit lets out yet another chuckle. “You just made me spill mine when you called out to me in the streets like that, after all.”

“Right.”

I chuckle back at him before heading into the kitchen to make him a cup of coffee. Three lumps of sugar and a splash of milk, just the way he likes it.

 

“Thank you,” he says as I hand the coffee to him and I go to sit beside Viktor on the couch across Phichit.

He blows at his cup and takes a long sip before putting it down on a coaster on the coffee table separating us.

“So, Viktor.” He turns his head towards him, his eyes all enthusiastic at some juicy new scoop he’s dying to learn about me. Phichit will always remain Phichit no matter how much time passes by. “How did you and Yuuri meet?”

“Well, when my space ship crashed in the forest beside the farm, he found me in a crater and brought me here!” Viktor says matter-of-factly as he wraps his arm around my waist to pull my closer.

A month ago, my feet would feel cold and my blood would still once Viktor blurts out that one fact about himself to something else, afraid that the people from PSIA would come after him. However, now that everyone he’s told the exact same thing to takes it as a funny joke, I thought, ‘Well what’s the harm in it, anyway?’ The people from PSIA haven’t visited us since they came to me telling I keep my mouth shut about the incident anyway.

“Oh, I see!” Phichit lets out a laugh at Viktor’s answer. Little does he know that Viktor has come 2.54 million light years all the way from the Andromeda galaxy to come here to earth. “You’re so funny, Viktor! I can see why Yuuri is so fond of you!”

“Of course!” Viktor answers brightly as his grip around my waist only tightens. He gives me a quick glance as his plush lips curl into a faint smile.

I smile back at him.

“By the way, Phichit,” I begin. “I saw your performance last night and I thought you were amazing!”

Last night, Viktor and I watched the men’s free program for the NHK Trophy not only to get up to date with skating, but mostly to see Phichit perform. Since Phichit came in last in the program and with the commercials in-between and all that, Viktor fell asleep before he could even see him on the ice. Though Phichit didn’t manage to podium, he still looked wonderful skating on the ice.

“Oh, I was?” Phichit chuckles. “I didn’t exactly manage to make it to the podium but at least it was really fun!”

I wish I was more like Phichit when I came in last in Sochi. He looks so unfazed by it all and still as chipper as he was before he stepped on the ice. If only I had an attitude like his, then I probably wouldn’t have retired from my skating career by now.

Past thoughts aside, every time I see him perform, whether it’s through the screen or in the venue itself, it always like the first time.

“I think the judges should have let you podium, to be honest.” I chuckle. “Your combination spin at the end was done really perfectly!”

Viktor’s head alternates between looking at me and Phichit, as if trying to understand what we’re talking about.

“Aw, you’re too much, Yuuri.” Phichit gives a flattered wave of the hand. “I even flubbed my landing for the triple axel.”

“Um, could you be Yuuri’s rink mate from when he still was still skating?” Viktor blurts out.

“Yeah, I am! We lived in the same apartment too and we’d practice on the rink nearly every day. I’m surprised you don’t know this by now. Hasn’t Yuuri told me about you yet?”

“Ah, sorry Phichit, I forgot to tell him.”

“Really?” Phichit feigns a look of mock hurt. “I’m hurt that Yuuri hasn’t told the most important person to him about the other equally important person in his life.”

Phichit fakes a sniffle before taking another sip from his cup of coffee but quickly recovers anyway.

“Anyway, Yuuri was really great when he was still skating,” Phichit adds and takes another sip of coffee. “You should have seen him, Viktor!”

Phichit looks almost enthusiastic as he begins recalling my past career. I can’t help but feel a slight sting, however, at how I abandoned skating back there and then. Even so, I would have liked Viktor to see me skate. Even though I don’t skate anymore, it’s still such a big part in my life.

“I’ve been told,” Viktor replies with a chuckle. “Yuuri is amazing at everything he does.”

I feel myself blush again as a wave of flattery washes over me at the compliment.

“When we went Yu-topia, his sister wouldn’t stop bragging about him too.”

Wait, Viktor didn’t tell me about that.

Ah, now I feel embarrassed.

But if it’s Viktor, then I guess I wouldn’t mind at all.

“They put up pictures of him from his skating years and he looks absolutely adorable in them!” Viktor’s lips quirk up into that heart-shaped smile as he puts his arms around me to hug me.

“Introducing your boyfriend to the parents before you get married, I see,” Phichit teases.

“Speaking of which, I should have asked for Yuuri’s mom to show me his baby pictures!” Viktor says.

“Thank god you didn’t ask her!” I sputter as my face turns practically red while Phichit and Viktor burst out laughing. Knowing my mom, she probably wouldn’t hesitate when someone asks her to show a baby picture of me.

“Oh, Yuuri showed me his baby pictures once!” Phichit pulls out his phone from his back pocket.

He actually saved it, the absolute madman.

“Here it is.” He pulls up a photo of me as a baby in his gallery before handing the phone to Viktor.

“Oh, Yuuri!” Viktor looks absolutely struck as he fawns over a photo of me as a one-year old in diapers putting a wooden block in my mouth. “You’re so cute!”

“Your babies would be so beautiful, Yuuri,” Phichit says jokingly as Viktor continually lets out ‘awws’ at my baby picture on Phichit’s phone.

“Yuuri, you’re so unfair!” Viktor whines as he zooms the picture in on my drooling face. “You never showed me a picture of yourself as a baby before!” He shortly gives the phone back to Phichit afterwards.

“Oh, there are a lot of things Yuuri showed me!” Phichit interrupts as he slides his phone back into his back pocket.

“Yuuri, do you still have that dildo I gave you back in Detroit?”

“Phichit, what the hell—“

“Yuuri, what’s a dildo?”

I remember. Back when Phichit and I were living together in Detroit, Phichit bought me a sparkly pink dildo as a gag gift. For some reason, Phichit brought it with him when he dragged me into this party ten miles away from our apartment. When we got really wasted, Phichit suggested jokingly on how I should be filmed using the dildo on myself.

Stupidly enough, I agreed.

When I woke up the next morning, I was naked and my ass was its sorest in my entire lifetime. I’d forgotten what had happened the previous night but when I unlocked my phone, I saw a home-made porno film of me splitting myself open on some rubber dick.

I deleted that video off the face of the planet and swore never to look back again.

To this day, the dildo sits unused underneath my bed gathering dust.

Why I brought it with me from Detroit back to Hasetsu, I will never know.

Just as I forgot about its existence, Viktor _came_  upon it the morning after I found him.

Recalling that experience all over again is like being _thrust_ to live that entire incident again.

“P-Phichit!” I scream, and Viktor jolts up slightly beside me. My face is burning. No, it’s melting. It’s like my face has been doused with acid and my skin and flesh have started melting away from my skull.

  
“We promised to never talk about that again!”

“Yuuri, what’s wrong—“ Viktor gets cut off.

“It’s n-nothing!” I shriek as I turn my head to look at Viktor, who looks as confused as ever. Phichit only laughs in his seat like the demon he is.

“Oops, my bad.” Phichit sticks his tongue out as he feigns an apologetic look. “My mouth slipped.”

I clap my hands over my face to stop the burning, but to no avail. I put my arms around Viktor and bury my face against his chest to hide my face from Phichit’s teasing stares. The humiliation, it burns. I guess some people would be into being humiliation, but I’m not one of those people.

Why am I still friends with this madman in the first place, anyway?

It takes a while for the reddening in my face to regress back into the capillaries on my face. While my face is the same color as it was before Phichit totally went and reminded me of the thing I’d rather forget, the utter humiliation of it all still sits heavy at the pit of my stomach.

“Sorry, Yuuri.” Phichit seems sincere this time as I take in a lungful of air to calm my nerves down.

“It’s alright,” I say as I will the humiliation in my gut to escape my body. “Just…” I wring my hands out before me as I slap myself on both cheeks.

“Whew.” I breathe out a sigh of relief as I feel the shame slowly seep out of every pore on my body.

“Anyway.” I finally manage a calm and composed demeanor before turning towards Phichit.

“Would you like to join us for lunch?” My wide, uncharacteristic smile after such a humiliating episode throws him off somewhat and he gulps.

“O-Oh, of course.” Phichit replies with a scratch to the back of his head.

 

Viktor insists on making lunch and he manages to amaze me again as he serves something more complex with this time being curry.

Beneath the table, Makkachin happily chews on her food that Viktor made from scratch.

“Wow, Yuuri, not only is your boyfriend handsome but he can cook really well too!” Phichit comments as he happily munches away on the food.

Viktor blushes at the compliment and does a characteristic wave of the hand whenever he’s flattered.

“He’s right, Viktor.” I take in another spoonful of curry with rice. “This tastes amazing!”

“Aww, I’m glad you two like it!” Viktor chuckles as the blush on his face only darkens with the compliment. “You’ll be surprised for what I’ll cook up for dinner tonight!”

“Eh?” I stop in the middle of eating my lunch. “But Viktor, you’ve already done the cooking for breakfast and lunch today, at least let me make dinner.”

“Oh, but I insist,” Viktor says before having a bite of his own cooking. “You’ve been doing the cooking for almost two months here, anyway.”

“How about you help me out instead?” Viktor smiles at me brightly. “Does that sound alright with you?”

“Well, alright then.” I let out a chuckle and I continue eating my lunch beside Viktor.

From across the table, Phichit bites on his spoon as he lets out a high-pitched squeal.

 

After the three of us finish eating lunch, Phichit helps us out with the farm work by feeding the animals while Viktor and I tend to the crops we have left. I suggested that Phichit, Viktor and I go out to show him around Hasetsu but he opted on helping us with the farm work instead, insisting that he didn’t want to throw off my work schedule. I wouldn’t mind if I took a few hours off the farm to show him around, but I guess nobody would be there to give the animals their lunch.

Well, at least he’s enjoying himself.

When the start had just begun to set, Phichit checks the time on his phone before sitting up abruptly from the couch.

“Ah, Yuuri, I forgot that it’s almost time to catch my train!”

“So soon? But isn’t it a three-hour ride from here to Osaka?”

“Yeah.” He lets out a sigh. “Looks like I won’t be here to have dinner here then. Celestino will go insane if I show up late.”

“Aww, that means you can’t try my cooking for dinner,” Viktor adds regretfully.

“Yeah. I’m really sorry about that.” He lets out a soft chuckle.

“At least have something on your ride back,” I say. “You wouldn’t want to go hungry after all.”

“Just give me a minute.” Viktor rushes back to the kitchen comes back with a plastic container in his hand.

“Here you go.” Viktor hands the container to Phichit. “It’s leftovers from lunch. I hope you won’t mind.”

“Of course I won’t!” Phichit replies happily as he slips a strap of his backpack off his shoulder and places the container inside. “Oh, and Yuuri, you probably won’t be getting the container back.”

“That’s alright. I can always buy a new one.” I chuckle. “Anyway, at least let me give you a drive to the train station.”

“Sure thing!”

 

We drive Phichit to the train station and see him off in front of the ticket machine. After the three of us exchange a series of goodbyes, Phichit passes through the ticket barriers as the three of us wave goodbye at each other. Once we see that Phichit has boarded the train safely, we leave the train station and begin our drive back home to the farm. Viktor and I make tonkatsu topped with a delicious sauce for dinner and we start off the evening with our bellies full and satisfied.

I wash the dishes after the both of us finish eating dinner while Viktor wipes the utensils dry beside me before placing them on a rack. As I start washing the last item, I gaze out of the window and see that the sky is its clearest in days. Not a cloud is in sight as the sky stretches out in front of me in all directions, the black canvas dotted in little points of light.

As I hand the spoon I finished washing for Viktor to dry, an idea comes up to mind.

“Viktor, what do you think about stargazing tonight?”

“Seems like a great idea,” Viktor replies with a gentle smile on his face.

After we finish doing the dishes, Viktor and I head outside. I unlatch the panel on the back of the truck and the two of us climb in.

As I lie down on my back, Viktor does the same and wraps an arm around me to pull me close against him. It’s a bit chilly tonight, so I appreciate the gesture as I wrap an arm around his middle in return and rest my head against his chest.

 

My eyes look up at the black carpet of stars overhead, draping against the night sky like a blanket.

As I take in the sight before me, it occurs me that a lot of these stars have long been gone already, their light just reaching our eyes millions of years after they’ve truly collapsed into a meager ball of gas before dying off.

It’s fascinating to think that even light, the fastest thing in this universe, takes millions of years for our eyes to even perceive it.

It only just gives me an idea of just how infinitely vast the universe is, or if this universe is just one of many.

People often say just how insignificantly tiny each and every one of our lives are in the grand scale of everything; no matter what we do in our lives will mean nothing in the end. When the world ends, when galaxies are destroyed and torn apart in the unforgiving vacuum of space, the universe will still be there, just as eternal and permanent as it always was.

Our lives are tiny—just a speck of dust suspended in the cold ether.

However, the fact that my life is impermanent, that this world and all the stars lying beyond it are impermanent, just makes me want to truly live all the more.

Years ago, I would have been content to live a mundane, uneventful life all by myself—alive yet not truly living.

Now, everything is just so different. It’s like I’m seeing the world with new eyes all over again.

I look up into the sky and I see a glimpse of the past.

 

_I look at the man beside me and I see my present and my future._

 

“Viktor…” I begin as I tear my eyes away from the sky and look into the eyes that could bring the stars down themselves. As I call his name, his silvery eyelashes flutter as he looks my way.

“Do you ever miss home?”

“This _is_ my home, Yuuri.” Viktor all but smiles a smile that bore a bittersweet aftertaste. Viktor is just like the universe—unfathomable and full of secrets yet to be discovered.

“I mean, do you ever miss the planet where you came from?”

“Of course.” He tears his eyes away from mine and looks at the sky above, the look on his face pensive and contemplative.

“I would have loved to show you where I came from sometime if…” As he purses his lips in a tight line, a sad look crosses his face. I look at him, expecting him to continue, but he doesn’t.

“It’s difficult, seeing the home you grew up in turn into a place bustling with life into a battlefield.” Viktor lets out a heavy sigh.

“I should have stayed. I should have stayed in the front lines to help defend my planet, but…I couldn’t.”

I stay silent as I tighten my arms around him.

“But if I did, then I would never have met you, Yuuri.” As his face turns look at me, the smile on his face cracking at the edges.

 “The war took a lot of things away from me, Yuuri.” His voice begins trembling slightly just as his hands do while he caresses my cheek tenderly.

 “But it brought me to you.”

He brings both of his arms around me and brings me closer in a tight embrace as he buries his face against my hair.

“There are things that I would never forgive myself for.”

 His breath begins to hitch as I feel his body tremble under my hands. Then, he raises his raises his face up and looks at me as he presses his forehead against mine, his skin glowing a pale blue against mine.

“As heavy as those things may be, you showed me that there is more to this life than suffering and pain.”

In the depths of his blue eyes, I can see the iceberg rise as the waters recede.

“Before I met you, I was merely surviving whatever life throws my way.” His hands come up to cradle both sides of my face as my palm rests against his glowing cheek.

“Living with you, waking up with you and doing everything with you—“ He pauses to take in a deep breath. “Yuuri, you made me live again.”

Does he even know what his presence alone did for me?

He made me feel reassured, that all that I did in my life didn’t amount to nothing. He made me reconcile with myself for my past mistakes because he showed me just how much more there is to life than wallowing in my own self-pity and regrets.

“Viktor…” I begin as my face inches closer towards his.

“You’ve come such a long way, to be here by my side.” My lips curl into a smile as I feel my own eyes start to grow heavy with tears.

“You are beautiful. You’re stronger than you hold yourself credit for to go all this way with such a painful past bearing down on you.”

As tears begin trickling down my face, Viktor does the same as he looks at me as if I was something so precious to him.

“It pains me a lot to see you suffering quietly, Viktor.” My own voice begins to crack as I caress the side of his face gently.

“I want you to know that I’m here for you, that I will always love you no matter what your past may have been.”

“Y-Yuuri…” Viktor begins breaking out into a soft sob, his shoulders heaving slightly.

“Your past will never define you, Viktor.” I tell him firmly despite the wavering in my voice.

“I love you for who you are now, not for who you once were.”

“You’re a wonderful person, Viktor.” I shut my eyes tightly as I take in a deep breath. When I open them again, Viktor’s eyes are overflowing. “You made me forgive myself.”

“I want to do the same for you too.”

“Yuuri…” He says with a quivering voice. “What did I ever do to deserve you?” The weight of his hand against my cheek is a warm and steady presence.

“You’re so good to me.”

He brings his arms around me once more and he buries his face against the crook of my neck, leaving a trail of hot tears as he sobs softly. Once the sobbing has subsided, he pulls himself away from the embrace and looks at me lovingly before he closes the gap between our faces with a kiss.

I put my arms around his neck as he rolls on top of me, his knee slotted in between my legs. His kiss is deep and unhurried as he locks his fingers tightly with mine. As we breathe in each other’s sighs, I kiss him back in the same languid manner, our lips locking tightly as if they were meant to fit against one another. Not long after, our kiss turns sloppy and messy as he slips his tongue into my mouth.

My mind goes blank.

As I tilt my head up to the side, our tongues dance against one another as he drinks in my breath.

When he pulls away, our mouths are separated by a string of saliva. As I lick the string off, the love in those blue eyes of his darken with something like lust as his towering form looms above me.

I can say the same for myself as my own lustful gaze meets his, the tent in my pants pressing teasingly against his knee.

 

“Viktor…” I breathe out. “Can we…can we take this inside…?” I say without any ounce of shame. When I look between Viktor’s legs, I see that he’s just as eager as I am.

“Of course, my Yuuri.” My name rolls off his tongue smoothly before leaning forward again to lock his lips against mine.

As he gets himself off of me, he slips his arms under my knees and my back to hoist me off the floor on the back of the truck and carries me back inside the house.

As soon as we get into our shared bedroom, my heart beats in anticipation as he places me against the mattress. He gets on top of me with both knees planted beside my hips and raises the hem of my sweater to expose my belly.

“Can I?”

“Yes,” I say almost wordlessly and then he peels the clothing off of me, leaving my upper half completely bare. 

His fingers lock lovingly against mine as he raises them above my head. He locks his lips against the side of my neck, biting and sucking and marking as he claims me for his own.

A soft moan slips from my mouth as his tongue circles like a vulture against the bruise on my neck.

He makes his way down to my chest, his glowing hands ghosting against my skin as his tongue darts out to lick a pert nipple.

My body shudders as his free hand comes up on the other to rub and pull at it teasingly to elicit a series of breathy moans from me.

“V-Viktor…” His lips wrap around a nipple, sucking on it while playing with the other.

His lips pull away with a wet pop before moving even further down my body, licking a hot stripe on his way down south. I writhe underneath him as his hands come up to caress my side, his hands leaving a heated trail on my skin in its wake.

“Oh, Yuuri, you’re so beautiful…” He breathes out against my skin before pressing his lips against the raised lines on my stomach.

 I feel myself redden to my ears as he sticks his tongue out to run its tip against the grooves on my skin that I was so ashamed about. Oddly enough, the tip of his tongue glows a pale blue as he dips it into my navel. As he pulls his tongue away, he slips his fingers underneath the waistband of my sweatpants.

“Can I take this off?” How he asks for my permission in such a heated moment does things to me.

As a shudder travels down my spine, my cock only tents up even further against its fabric confines, desperate for air.

My chest rises and falls in anticipation as he slides his body down so that his face is against my crotch. He eyes at the bulge in my pants hungrily before kneading his deft fingers against it teasingly.

“Oh, Yuuri, you’re just as excited as I am, aren’t you?” His voice is smooth, deep and husky as it flows like honey in my ears.

“Ahh….Viktor…” I moan out as he massages at my cock, drawing a shameless moan out of me.

“Please…” I tremble as I begin grinding my crotch against his hand for more friction, which he happily provides.

“Please take it off,” I say breathlessly as my eyes cloud up with visions of him making love to me.

I let out a soft whine as he takes his hand off my crotch.

“Don’t worry, my love.” He slips his fingers underneath my waistband again. “I’m going to make you feel really good.”

 

Fuck. God, I want him, no I _need_ him.

 

Viktor licks his lips as if he was unwrapping his dinner as he pulls my sweatpants off my legs along with my underwear, exposing me completely to his hungry eyes as my erection springs free.

His eyes roam around my naked body as his hands come to rest on my hips, his touch trailing down before stopping to grip at the flesh of my thighs in a tight grip.

“S-Stop staring…” I make a move to cover myself with my arms, with no success. My heart pounds wildly against my ribcage as his heated gaze burns into my skin like a laser beam. “It’s embarrassing…” I can feel my head go dizzy as I turn an even brighter red to my shoulders.

I become more conscious of myself as his fingertips run against the stretch marks on my thighs while remaining comfortably clothed himself.

“Oh, Yuuri, what are you talking about?” Viktor sighs as he lowers himself down to pepper kisses against my thigh.

I shiver and let out a moan as his kisses move up north before running a lick against my inner thigh. His cheek brushes against the tip of my cock before latching his lips onto my skin to leave his trace on my thigh.

“Viktor…” I moan out as his teeth latch onto the sensitive tendon, the sight of him between my legs making me shudder.

“Oh, Yuuri, you’re so beautiful…” He whispers against my skin like a prayer all while depriving my cock of the attention it needs. Tease.

His lips glow a faint blue as he directs his attention to my other thigh, biting and nipping on my skin.

As he continues leaving his mark on my body, his hand wraps around me and I gasp.

His hand starts moving up, and then down, and then back up and down and up and down as he smirks deviously against my thigh.

“You wanted this, right, Yuuri?” God, the way my name rolls of his tongue like so just makes me all the more aroused. I let out a series of soft moans as he continues jerking me off in his hand, his movement accelerating with every second that passes by.

“Y-Yes…” I let out a choked-out moan as my muscles begin to tighten as I claw at the sheets underneath with my fingers.

“F-Fuck yes, Viktor…god, just do me already…”

“I love it when you’re honest with your desires like this, Yuuri.” He drawls out a low, drawn-out purr, his eyes looking almost predatory while stroking me to near-orgasm.

My breathing gets more labored as I can feel the pressure build up in my stomach like a string pulled taut threatening to snap.

“V-Viktor, I’m going to come…” I breathe out in between pants and moans as my back arches in anticipation for that high. However, the high doesn’t come when Viktor takes his hand off my cock with a mischievous smirk on his face, leaving me dizzy and breathless and unfinished.

“Not so fast, Yuuri.” He gives me a teasing wink as he pokes at the tip of my cock with his finger. “We wouldn’t want you to finish so quickly now, would we?”

His hands grip at both of my thighs to raise them up into the air. As he does so, he shape-shifts his clothes off his body to reveal him in all his nude glory, his cock standing up proud an erect once freed from his clothing.

As he tip of his cock presses against my entrance, he begins grinding myself against me as if teasing of what’s to come.

“Ready, Yuuri?” As my lips part open to let out another moan, his eyes only darken visibly as he grows harder against my ass.

“Wait,” I huff out and he takes his hands off my thighs so I can set them down comfortably on the mattress.

I sit up on the bed to reach into the drawer of the nightstand and draw out a bottle of clear lube. I uncap the bottle and pour a generous amount of the slick substance on my fingers.

“Watch me. Keep your eyes on me.”

He draws his lip between his teeth as his eyes roam down to watch my slick, wet fingers press against my asshole. “Oh, I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

How long has it been since I even prepared myself like this?

My back begins to arch against the headboard as I slide my fingers inside myself, the tight heat enveloping me as I bury my knuckles further inside.

“Ahh….” I let out a quiet moan as my fingers vanish completely inside me. Viktor is still looking at me, his eyes drawn to the sight of my fingers buried deep inside.

“Viktor…I want you so bad…” I moan out as I start scissoring myself loose, my fingers moving in and out of my ass with a wet, obscene squelch. Viktor is speechless and unmoving as he watches me fuck myself open with my fingers.

“Ah…fuck…” I bite on my lower lip as I add another finger to loosen myself up even further, my pace slow and steady as I try desperately to brush against that spot.

As Viktor watches me in quiet astonishment, his own hand comes to wrap around his cock as he begins jerking himself off to the sight of me fingering myself.

Just knowing I have this effect on him...

_It makes me feel powerful._

“Mm, Viktor…” I manage out a chuckle as I watch him pump his hand up and down around that thick cock of his as he watches me get ready. “Are you enjoying yourself too much…?”

“Yes,” Viktor breathes out softly as he thumbs at his tip while I continue loosening myself up for him.

“God, Yuuri, I want you so bad already.” His pumping becomes more erratic as I see the muscles on his thighs spasm and contract.

“You can have me now, Viktor,” I moan out breathlessly as I take my fingers out of my hole.

“Fuck me.”

He crawls towards me frantically like a man in a desert drawn to an oasis and I wrap my legs around his waist as the tip of his cock presses against my waiting opening.

As he begins pushing his way inside me, he lets out a soft grunt as I hiss at burn of his cock making its entrance inside me, making me grip at the sheets tightly in a white-knuckled grip.

As he pushes into me deeper, the pain is quickly replaced with a wave of pleasure as he sheathes himself fully inside me, his cock buried deep in between the globes of my ass.

“Oh….” I moan out as I feel the full girth of his cock embedded deep within me.

“Viktor, you’re so big…” I huff out softly as he pauses in his ministrations. He gives me time to adjust to the alien sensation of his cock inside me. 

“It feels so good inside you, Yuuri…” Viktor releases a soft, low moan between his lips as he rolls his lips against mine, his cock shifting just so inside of me.

“Do you want to continue?”

“Of course…” I huff out and he wastes no time in pulling his cock out of me before thrusting in deep in a slow, gentle pace.

“Viktor...Viktor…” I say his name out as he moves in and out and in and out and in and out of me teasingly slow, depriving me of the friction I so badly desire.

“Please….” I let out a soft whine and his lips curl into a smirk as he continues moving in and out of me in an agonizingly slow place. It’s as if he wants me to say the words out loud myself.

“Faster…please, faster….”

“Ask, and you’ll get,” he replies with a sultry tinge to his voice and his pace immediately picks up, his grunts in rhythm to his quick, swift thrusts as his tip begins to lightly brush against that sensitive spot just so.

“Ahhh…Viktor, Viktor…” His name rolls of my tongue like a prayer as I raise my arms above my head to grip at the headboard.

“Fuck…!” I curse between my teeth as he pounds against my prostate again and again and again.

“God, Yuuri!” Viktor grunts as his fingers dig into the flesh of my thighs, his fingernails, leaving crescent-shaped marks on my skin. His pace quickens dramatically and nothing in the room can be heard except for our moans and the sounds of skin slapping against skin echoing against the four walls as the bed frame creaks under our weight.

“Fuck, I love you so much, Yuuri….” Viktor breathes out between moans before leaning down to leave kisses against my jawline before working his way down to my neck and pressing his lips against the marks he left on my skin.

I wrap my arms around his back as he plants his palms at both sides of my face, his fingers digging tightly against the sheets.

“I…l-love you so much too, V-Viktor…” My speech starts slurring as my moans seem to spill out of my mouth ceaselessly. He pounds into me wildly yet lovingly at the same time. My mind goes blank with ecstasy as I drag my fingers against the vast expanse of his back, leaving a blue trail of scratches in its wake.

“Viktor, Viktor, Viktor, Viktor..!”

“Oh, Yuuri….Yuuri…!”

Our vocabularies are reduced to crying out each other’s names like a litany of prayers as I feel the pressure in my stomach build up with each thrust he lands against my prostate.

My only thoughts are of him, him and him. My feet dig against the sheets as if they were the only thing tethering me to this reality before I fly off into another plane of existence where I can neither tell where I end and where he begins.

My breaths come out in short, ragged pants, every nerve on my body on fire as I edge into the precipice of climax.

“V-Viktor, I’m—“ I inhale a sharp intake of air as the pressure in my stomach builds up even more, my senses all too overwhelmed as with every drag of his cock against my rim. My back arches up from the bed as my lips part to release an indecent moan, my drool dripping off the side of my mouth as he maintains his pace without fail. “Viktor, I’m g-going to come…!”

“Fuck, Yuuri…!” Viktor hisses under his breath as my vision becomes clouded with stars. “I’m so close….”

“Can I…?” Viktor mumbles as the sound of our breaths and moans drown out the sound of his voice.

“Oh, god, yes.” I sound desperate as I wrap my arms around him to bring him closer towards me, my lips locking sloppily against his as our tongues entwine around one another in a hot, feverish tango.

My vision turns to white as I free-fall off the edge of climax, my release spurting out in thick, hot, white ropes against my skin as we drink in each other’s moans. Not long after, I feel the warmth of Viktor’s release shooting up inside me, the warmth of his seed coating each and every inch of my insides.

His hips finally still as he pulls away from me with an obscene noise before collapsing in a sweaty, breathless heap beside me.

As I lie on the bed catching my breath, my legs are spread far apart as I feel the warmth of his seed trickling out of me. God, what did we just do? My chest rises and falls as my lungs expand to take in the oxygen it needs.

“Oh, Yuuri.” Viktor rolls towards my side to wrap his arms around me. He glows like moonlight as his skin is coated in a thin sheen of sweat.

God, I feel wrecked.

“You were so amazing.” His palm rests on my cheek as he moves closer to give me lips a chaste, sweet kiss.

“And not to mention unrestrained too, Yuuri.” When he chuckles, I can feel myself go red all over again.

I wrap my arms around him tightly, our sweat mingling together as our skin presses flush against one another. “I didn’t know that you can manage to be so lewd, Yuuri,” Viktor says in a sing-song voice as his soft laughter reverberates in the room.

Oh god, he’s right. Just this morning I was yelling at him for not putting on any pants. In contrast to this, I told him to fuck me, and go faster, and whatnot not more than a few minutes ago.

“You can be so erotic when you really put your heart into it, Yuuri.” He gives my bottom a light squeeze before leaving a peck against my forehead.

“I-I guess so…” I mumble softly as I bury my head against his chest.

“It…It felt really good, though…” I feel the blush on my face turn a hundred shades darker upon admitting it that loud. I guess I admitted a lot of things not long ago.

“This is my first time…doing something like this…” I shyly peek my eyes out from its hiding place to meet his gaze. “What about you?”

“Hm…” He hums a bit as his brow scrunches in contemplation. “No.”

That doesn’t come as a surprise, to be honest. Someone as handsome and oozing with sex appeal such as Viktor has probably had his more than share fair of sexual exploits. Although, to be honest, even the thought of him doing things with somebody else in the past makes me feel…something.

“Why do you ask?” His lips curl into a faint smirk as he lifts up his a leg to wrap around mine.

“Jealous?”

“N-No, of course not!”

Well, I a _m_ jealous. Maybe just a bit.

“Besides…” I mumble softly as I absently trace patterns on his chest, my fingertips leaving a trail of blue that quickly dissipates on his pale skin.

“Besides?”

“Besides…what matters most is the moment we share right now.” As I raise my head to meet his gaze, his eyes are blown out wide as a light dusting of pink settles on his chest.

“Oh, Yuuri.” He presses a kiss against my forehead. And when he pulls away, his lips curl into the sweetest smile.

“You’re so good to me.” He kisses me again and wraps his arms tightly around me in a warm embrace.

I crane my neck up to kiss him back on the lips and as I pull away, I smile at him sweetly. As I idly watch my fingers trace glowing patterns on his skin, my hand comes to rest upon a diagonal scar on his stomach.

_Ah, right, the first time I saw this scar was when we were in the hot springs._

“Viktor?” My fingers rub against the raised patch of skin on his stomach as his head perks up to look at me. “Can you tell me where this scar came from?”

Not a second after my question, Viktor’s breath stills as the smile on his face morphs into a tight line. The look on his face now is sad and pensive.

For a moment, I feel myself panic as I overstepped my boundaries, for pushing him to answer a question he probably doesn’t delve into—

Viktor worries his lips in between his teeth as the expression on his face becomes pained. Before I can even tell him to forget about it, he takes in a deep sigh and begins talking.

“Back when I was in Adamanta, I met a soldier named Henrik,” as he begins, the look on his face is torn between fond and sorrowful. “He mistook me for an enemy soldier during a mission so he stabbed me.” Viktor chuckles as he places his hand against his scar.

“So much for first impressions, hm?” He runs the tip of his finger against the raised line on his stomach to trace its outline.

“Not long after, Henrik and I fell in love.” He closes his eyes and takes in a deep breath before continuing. I can see the corners of his lips quivering slightly as if recalling the memory itself pains him physically. 

“We fought through the war together, being each other’s reasons for surviving through every single day.”

“One day, a realization came upon us.” As I place my hand over his, I find that it’s cold and trembling.

“We’ve been fighting for the wrong side after all. We’ve taken countless of innocent lives all for the cause of invading another country for their resources.”

“And so, we defected. We destroyed all and any evidence of us being soldiers before fleeing to a peaceful country.

For the first time in forever, we could finally _breathe_ , we could finally live our lives the day we wanted to until….”

His gaze is distant as he looks at the starry sky through the window.

“Until our captain sent some people to find us.” I grip his hand as I can only feel it getting colder and shakier. His breath falters and he swallows an invisible lump in his throat. “And they did.”

“I managed to evade capture by shape-shifting. Henrik couldn’t shape-shift.”

“After they caught him, they….” His eyes start welling up with tears as his voice grows faint and distant.

“They executed him publically for treason.”

 

_Oh._

 

“I…” Before the tears could even grow heavy in his eyes, he wipes them away with the back of his hand.

“Yuuri, I—“ When he turns to looks at me, he immediately throws his arms around me and I instinctively reach for his head to run my fingers through his hair soothingly. “No matter what I tell myself, I still can’t forgive myself for it.”

I feel my own heart break as Viktor trembles under my touch, his breaths hitching as a soft sob begins to wrack his body.

 “Viktor,” I say firmly despite the quivering in my voice and he lifts his face up to look at me. His eyes are red and puffed up from crying, and yet he still looks beautiful all the same. “It’s just like what you said to me before. It hurts me so much to see you beat yourself up like this.”

“You’re a wonderful, person, Viktor.” I can feel my own eyes water as I cup his cheek with my palm before leaning towards him to give him a kiss on the lips. “You’ve given so much to me that you could ever know.”

“Remember what I said earlier?” My lips curve into a faint smile as I see the light in his eyes return again.

“I love you for who you are now, not for who you once were.”

“You were given this chance to live so you can start your life anew.” I press my palm against the side of his face, his skin glowing blue under my touch. “With me.”

“You said it so yourself, right?” I drag my fingers gently against his skin as his expression softens visibly even more. “There is more to this life than pain and suffering.”

“I guess even I can’t live up to my words, huh?” Viktor blurts out with a slight scoff, and I chuckle back in reply.

“I’m here with you, Viktor.” I lean towards him to give him a kiss on the forehead. “And you’re here with me.”

“”Yuuri, I..” He whispers softly as that sad look crosses his eyes again. “I don’t know if I can even begin to forgive myself for what I’ve done.”

“Which is why I’ll be right here with you every step of the way.”

 Together, we’ll leave our pasts behind and live the present and forge our own future hand in hand.

 “So please, Viktor.” I take his hand and raise it to my lips to press a kiss against his knuckles.

 

“Believe in me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> oh boy this is the longest chapter i've ever read this is like 12k words  
> I may or may not have gotten carried away when writing this chapter xD
> 
> I especially had a lot of fun writing the scenes with Phichit and the star-gazing scene! :'D  
> I feel like those were the parts when I was most inspired
> 
> As for the naughty bits, well....you can p much tell I wasn't all that inspired when writing it xD  
> I suck at writing porn lmao  
> It was at that part while writing a story that I didn't really feel up to it 
> 
> Anywho, thank you for reading this chapter!!  
> If you liked it, please leave a kudos or a comment down below!  
> And wow, seeing comments from you guys really does me wonders! :D  
> It helps me want to write more!
> 
> If you wanna get in touch with me, follow me on twitter [@chattoyant_zee](https://twitter.com/chattoyant_zee)


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 8799 words of fluff and tears

It’s eight in the morning and Viktor sits between my legs as he folds his feet on the carpeted floor with Makkachin nestled comfortably in his lap.

He hums that same tune I heard him hum during that day in the beach while ruffling his fingers through the puppy’s curly fur while I run a comb through his delicate silver hair.

Come to think of it, I’ve never seen anyone asides him with an unusual natural hair color. At first, I doubted that his hair color was natural until I took a second look at him naked and confirmed that the drapes indeed match the carpets. It really shouldn’t come as surprise considering how he’s from another planet entirely.

It’s either that, or he’s just graying prematurely.

As I chuckle to myself, Viktor immediately turns his head to look at me with concern written on his face.

“Yuuri, did you find a bald spot?” He asks me almost frantically as if his life depended on a full head of hair.

“Calm down, Viktor, you’re not balding.” I let out a laugh as he only gives me an unconvinced pout. “Besides, you’re not even old enough to start balding yet.”  
Come to think of it, I’ve never really asked him how old he was, even. I always thought that he was in his mid to late twenties based on how he looks.

“But Yuuri, what were you all chuckling about?”

“Oh, I just thought about if there are people back in your planet who has hair like yours.”

“But of course!” Viktor chuckles softly as he turns himself around on the floor to prop his chin up against my thigh, which he lovingly described as something he’d gladly die having his head crushed with.

“Both my mom and dad have silver hair like I do!”

“At first, I thought your hair was just graying prematurely,” I say in jest, to which I earn a series of pokes in the cheek.

“Yuuri, you’re so mean,” he says in a sing-song voice that sounds almost unnerving (plus his trademark heart-shaped smile) as every poke he gives me gets progressively more forceful and bone-deep.

“And here I thought you really loved me.”

“W-What are you saying, Viktor?!” I let out a laugh as my cheeks start hurting before I swat his hand away from my face. “Of course I love you, you idiot.”

Viktor and I have been living together for two months and three weeks now and yet, he remains still as goofy and playful as the day we first knew each other.

Not that I mind, that is.

That part of his personality is actually kind of cute.

Viktor’s face visibly softens as a faint dusting of pink begins coloring his cheeks. His long lashes fan down into a silvery curtain over the blue of his eyes as he presses his cheek against my thigh.

“How much do you love me?” Viktor says quietly in a barely-audible whisper as if he’s torn between voicing out his thoughts and keeping himself quiet.

“Well…” I feel my own cheeks flush faintly as I place my hand on top of his head to ruffle the soft, silvery threads of hair between my fingers, my nails scratching against his scalp slightly. “Even if you were to go bald, or go truly gray, I’d still love you all the same.”

If life would be kind enough to give me a chance, I’d be more than happy to spend the rest of my days with him. The thought alone makes my heart race all giddily against my ribcage like a ticking time bomb.

Viktor’s eyes widen and the color in his cheeks only darkens before his lips curl into a smile against my thigh. Viktor lifts Makkachin off his lap and climbs beside me on the couch to wrap my body in the warmth of his embrace. I can feel the corners of my own lips tug into a faint smile as he nuzzles his face against the crook of my neck, his unmistakable smile pressed up against my fluttering pulse.

I wind my arms tightly around his back and I pull myself closer towards him as I bury my face against his hair to breathe in his scent and imprint it into my memory.

As we remain still and quiet in each other’s arms, it feels as though time itself has stopped as well.

Viktor has changed a lot ever since we first met each other. When I knew very little about him, he was like a book that would flutter open quickly to give you a split-second glimpse of its pages before shutting to an abrupt close and keeping its secrets out of my reach.

That’s not to say I know every single thing to him, that is.

There are still things about him that are a complete mystery to me.

 I don’t rush.

We have all the time in the world to continue uncovering more about each other.

He pulls his face out of the crook of my neck with a bright, wide grin on his face before he cups both sides of my cheeks with his palms.

The blue of his eyes are striking as the early morning sunlight filters through the window and reveals the tiny flecks of gold embedded in clear aquamarine.

In times like this, I often stop and wonder, _“How did I possibly find someone as beautiful as him?”_ when for nearly all my life, I thought that I’d never find someone for me.

“Yuuri…” His lips curl around my name like honey as he looks at me lovingly, the pads of his fingers running thoughtfully against my skin as if committing the feel of me to memory.

“You get really mean sometimes, but you do know I love you so much right?”

I let out a soft scoff before breaking out into a small laughter.

“You remind me all the time, Viktor.”

He never seems to tire of telling me that he loves me every single time.

Needless to say, I take advantage of it.

And when I do, he showers me with it.

Viktor’s shoulders shake as laughter practically rolls of his body like waves in a melodic crescendo. The laughter softly fades away as his eyes soften into a thoughtful yet pensive look.

“You know, Yuuri,” he begins, his voice soft and feathery like his touches. “Before I met you, I never thought that I’d ever want to grow old with someone again.”

“I was afraid of committing myself to someone because I was scared that I’d just lose them in the end.”

The look in his eyes now bears just that hint of sadness that’s just as distant as the stars.

And guilt I can barely begin to comprehend.

“But I’m not afraid anymore.”

“I know that sometimes, things won’t go the way we want them to be, but…” He takes his hands off my face to take my hands in his. His grip is firm and warm.

“I know that if we’re together, we can do anything.”

“Viktor, I…” I don’t know what to say. As I look at our joined hands, all I can do is purse my lips as I feel the raw truth of his feelings overwhelming me. He’s right. If we’re together, then we can handle whatever life throws at us.

I wish I had someone like him in the past so I wouldn’t have been so afraid of failure, so afraid of making mistakes that I ended up not trying at all.

“You’re right.” I finally say as the corner of my lips quirk up into a faint smile.

I’ve left all of my downfalls in my past.

All that’s left to do is to tear my eyes away from the stars and look ahead into the unseen future.

Now that I have someone who loves me, we can forge our future together hand-in-hand, no matter what it may be. The different permutations for all the different possibilities we can spend together is infinite.

There’s no guarantee that all of them could even be good outcomes.

The me of yesterday would probably freak out about this and think of the worse possible outcomes for the future all the while ruining the present. But looking back now, it doesn’t really matter just as much as it did.

I’ll just have to take life as it’s presented to me and move forward like everybody else.

“I’m not afraid either, Viktor,” I chuckle softly as I run the back of my fingers against the plane of his cheeks. “And it’s all thanks to you.”

And I mean it.

Before I can say anything more, he wraps his arms around my neck and pulls himself closer to press his lips against mine in a sweet, chaste kiss.

His kiss lingers a little longer as I press into him. The sound of his heart beat reverberates against my chest, the own beating of my heart mingling against his until I can’t tell which is mine or which is his.

After that tender shared moment, his lashes flutter beautifully over the crystalline depths of his eyes as the plush of his lips softly part away from mine.

When there’s at least an inch of space between us, he presses his forehead against mine before breaking out into a soft laugh.

“Yuuri, you forgot to brush your teeth!”

I feel myself go red as I run my tongue against the front of my teeth only to sense the familiar feel of day-old film over them.

“But you kissed me anyway.”

“I’d never pass up a chance to kiss you, Yuuri!” He says proudly before giving my nose a little poke. “I’d kiss you even if you lost all your teeth!”

“Now that’s just mean, Viktor,” I try to sound hurt, but I end up laughing anyway at the mental image of myself with no teeth. “I could lose my teeth and I’d get dentures and you’d never even know.”

“I guess you have a point there,” Viktor breaks out into a chuckle. “Anyway, can you get back to combing my hair? I want you to braid it to the side like before.”

He hurriedly shuffles off the couch to sit on the floor, stepping on Makkachin’s tail in the process.

“Sorry, Makkachin!” He takes the puppy to place her on his lap and strokes his fingers through her thick curly fur to console her.

I let out a laugh as I pick up the comb and put my legs on both sides of his shoulders. He scoots himself to the exact center of my legs and I pick the comb up from the couch to continue where we left off.

 

It’s one in the afternoon now, and Viktor is begrudgingly cleaning out animal droppings from the barn and into a wheelbarrow while proudly sporting a braid tied off with a pink ribbon on the side of his head. After losing a bet on who could win five times in a row in rock-paper-scissors, Viktor graciously admitted his defeat before picking up a shovel and walking off outside to deal with the chore I dislike the most with every fiber of my being. 

The field is sparse now, with only a few crops that would survive the imminent winter cold planted in it.  When winter does come, we can only do so much with the weather getting in the way.

I roll up my sleeves to my elbows and start getting to work as I walk to the side of the house and bend down to turn the knob controlling the flow of water in the sprinklers dotted around the field.

When the watering on the crops has been done and dealt with, I head into the tool shed to grab a basket before entering the barn, where a sulking Viktor is cleaning animal excrement off the floor.

“I thought you said you could handle a little stench, Viktor,” I say with a smirk just to smite him. He only scoffs and groans as he crawls down under a cow to sweep piles of the stuff into a dustpan before throwing it into the wheelbarrow with a disgusting plop.

“I keep my word—“ He gags as he crawls out and comes up with the legs of his pants covered in grime and for a lack of a better term, shit. “God, I’ve been in a sewer before but it didn’t smell this bad.”

“Why are you complaining just now when you’ve done this before already?” I let out a laugh as I walk towards the chickens to check for newly-laid eggs to put in my basket.   “I thought you’d be used to it already.”

A chicken clucks violently and pecks at my hand as I reach for its next to gather the eggs. I mutter a quick apology for taking the chicken’s offspring away. Little does it know that these eggs are going to end up in someone else’s dining table.

“I thought so too,” Viktor lets out a series of coughs as his eyes begin tearing up at the offensive gases wafting through his nostrils. “But they get increasingly smellier as the days go by.”

“Guess who’s been feeding them more than what they need to eat?” I say in a sing-song voice to tease him.

“Me,” Viktor blurts out in a deadpan voice as he moves to another cow to deal with its mess. He sighs.  
“I really shouldn’t have fed the animals way more than they need.”

 Ever since I started farming, I knew that it was a wise decision not to rely on my harvest alone. Ever since I took a summer course on business management the year I quit skating, I was taught to maximize every single potentials for any business venture. Not only does my business consist of selling vegetables, but I’ve also become a milk and eggs supplier for local businesses and a supplier for manure for other farmers and home gardeners who wants to process it into usable fertilizer. It’s not a big-scale business, but it’s rather profitable.

Now that I’ve got Viktor lending me an extra hand, the work load has only gotten more and more bearable and the work itself much more fun to do.

Now that I think about it, we really are like a farming rural couple like Phichit had said. 

“I won’t let their cute critter charms fool me into feeding them more ever again,” Viktor mumbles as he scoops up another heap to place in the wheelbarrow, and I only let out a soft laugh in reply as I continue placing eggs in my basket.

“Anyway,” Viktor sighs as his bare ungloved hands wrap around the handles of the wheelbarrow. “I’m going to go dump these off into the pit.” He manages a smile on his face before walking out of the barn with his clothes smeared in filth. Although I was the one who put him in this situation, I can’t help but feel a little bad for him.

Just a little.

“Alright, take your time and be careful!” I recall the day I fell into the manure pit and let’s just say that it was a less than pleasant experience having to pull myself out of a pile of filth.

Viktor gives me a short wave as in response as he makes his way to the smelly harbinger of doom that is the manure pit.

Once I finish collecting the eggs from the nests, I head back inside the house with basket in tow to arrange the eggs carefully in cardboard cartons. When all of that has been settled, I head back out and grab a bucket and a brush from the tool shed.

Might as well spare Viktor the additional burden of having to bend himself down towards the offensive odor on the barn floor while cleaning up.

As I make my way towards the barn, I look behind me and see Viktor standing on the edge of the manure pit shoveling filth onto the ever-increasing pile.

Behind him, Makkachin sticks her head into the wheelbarrow with curiosity of a puppy as she sniffs at the thing, her tail wagging in interest as she does so.

“Having fun?” I chuckle as I turn around and stop in my tracks to tease him a bit.

“Having the time of my life,” he says sarcastically as his eyes are red and watery from the noxious gases wafting off the pile. “This is the most fun I’ve ever had in my entire life.”

“I’m really sorry about this, Viktor,” I chuckle awkwardly as I scratch at the back of my head. “You can take a break if you want, you know? Or better yet, I can help you out.”

The shovel in his hands still as the look on his face softens. As he turns to look at me, the corners of his lips tug up into a faint smile.

“I really appreciate the offer, Yuuri.” He props his palm up against the shovel while balancing himself precariously on the edge of the pit.

 “But I’m a man of my word, after all,” he says proudly with a grin on his face. “It would be a dishonor to go back on my end of the bargain, right?” Viktor chuckles.

“Since when were you so knightly?” I laugh.

“Wasn’t I always?” He gives me a wink accompanied by a smug smirk as he props up his elbow against the handle of the shovel. “I’m so reliable, aren’t I?”

“Hmm…I don’t know.”

My mind races back to memories of him choking on a crab leg because he didn’t know that he was supposed to take off the shell before actually eating it. I had to Heimlich maneuver him that day.

And that one time wherein he put chocolate in Makkachin’s dog dish. Thank god I threw it away before Makkachin could even eat it.

He also told me he absolutely hated bananas because they were bitter. When I looked at the banana, I could see that the top had been bitten clean off, peel and all.

And that time too wherein I had to leave him at home for a bit to buy him some medicine when he was sick and when I got home, he was crying into Makkachin’s fur and screaming “Yuuri is leaving me!” on the top of his lungs while clutching onto a bottle of grape soda.

But then again, despite him having little common sense and his silly antics, (which I love) he’s actually pretty reliable when it comes to doing chores. Not to mention, his cooking is really good too.

“I guess you’re pretty reliable,” I chuckle softly before picking the brush and the bucket up.

“Hey, you were hesitating!” Viktor says as a matter of fact as he pouts a bit. “And to think that the love of my life doubts my abilities.”

“I didn’t say that at all.” I let out a laugh before going on my way to clean up the barn.

I fill the bucket with water and pour it all over the floor before brushing the grime off the floorboards. After a few minutes of taking care of the mess, the floor are finally clear and my lower back aches as I finally get up from my crouch.

When I head out of the barn to put the bucket and the brush away, I notice that Viktor is gone from his previous spot at the edge of the pit.

Instead, Viktor was _in_ the pit with his arms sticking out comically from the mountain of filth.

“V-Viktor!” I drop my tools to the ground and immediately rush towards him.

Without a second thought, I jump into the pile of filth and pull him out of the manure pit.

“Viktor, are you alright?” I check his body for any scratches or cuts, but found none. “How did you fall in?!”

“Well….” Viktor begins as he begrudgingly shakes the manure that has stuck to his body before bringing his own hand to his nose to take a sniff. His hand recoils from his face faster than it had moved closer as his nose crinkles in disgust.

“Makkachin jumped in, so I had to come get her and I slipped when I tried to pick her up.”

As if on cue, said puppy climbs out of the pit with filth caking her curly fur without a care in the world. Her tail wags happily as she noses at Viktor’s equally filth-caked pants.

I’m torn between finding this funny and feeling bad for Viktor for falling into the pit of horrors.

“Ugh, I smell terrible,” he coughs as he shakes the excess droppings of himself, the filth landing on the ground with a disgusting squelch.

“I even got some in my hair too.” Viktor flicks off the offending object off his previously-perfect hairstyle before letting out a scoff.

“Don’t worry, we can take a break and wash up for a bit,” as I let out a chuckle, the scowl on his face turns into a smile, his blue eyes blinking brightly despite all the filth on his face.

“Does that mean you’ll help me wash up?” He asks almost enthusiastically.

“Of course. Besides, Makkachin needs a bath too, anyway.”

“Anyway, let’s get the both of you inside.” I lead Viktor back inside the house with Makkachin trailing behind him.

Before they can even enter, Viktor shape-shifts himself in his underwear (a big upgrade from nude) and carries Makkachin as we head towards the shower to avoid tracking in any dirt inside the house.  
I take Makkachin from Viktor’s arms to put her in a pet carrier for the time being as I help clean Viktor up.

“Alright, take a seat,” I say after we walk past the glass divider separating the shower from the rest of the bathroom.

As I take a clean wash cloth and rub it against a bar of soap, Viktor takes the wooden stool on the floor and promptly sits on it before happily shape-shifting himself to be as naked as the day he was born. Two months ago, I’d be a red mumbling mess whenever I’d see Viktor completely nude. Not that I’ve seen him without clothes in more times I can count in varying contexts, it’s hard not to get used to it altogether.

Not that I’m complaining.

Even covered in filth, Viktor is still a sight for sore eyes, like a god who descended from the stars to grace me with his unearthly presence.

Only that this god happens to be silly yet charming all at the same time.

Viktor gasps as I turn the shower head on, the warm water washing the filth off his body.

“Y-Yuuri, you could have told me when you were going to turn the water on!” He laughs as I crouch behind him to spray his skin with water. “That was so sudden!”

“Not as sudden as when you choked on that crab leg,” I laugh back as I start rinsing his hair with water, my fingers combing through the strands to get out any dirt that may be stuck in it.

“Yuuri!” Viktor whines. “You’re never going to let me off that, are you?”

“Nope.”

“Yuuri, you’re so mean.” He turns his head around to face me, his lips curled in a pout. “You sadist.”

“Consider it justice served.” I let out a snort as I recall the many different instances he’s caused me to go red with embarrassment just because of his own twisted sense of amusement.

Viktor only huffs in defeat as I continue rinsing him off with more water until the water running through the drain goes clear.

I take the washcloth and start rubbing it against his back in slow, even circles.

Viktor lets out a sigh, his lips quirking up into a faint smile as his muscles visibly relax under my touch.

“By the way Viktor, I’ve been wondering,” I blurt out to break the silence and Viktor perks his head up at the mention of his name. “You’ve never really told me how old you are.”

“Well, you didn’t exactly ask me,” he chuckles softly as I run the washcloth against his shoulders.

Well, he does have a point. He knows hold I am since we just celebrated my twenty-sixth birthday some weeks ago.

“I’ve always had the impression that you’re a year or two older than me though.” I wring out the washcloth before wetting it again and rubbing it against a bar of soap. “Let me guess…are you twenty-eight?”

“Nope.”

“Twenty-nine?”

“Bingo.” Viktor chuckles softly as I rub the washcloth against his upper arm before trailing down to the tips of his fingers. “I’m turning thirty this year.”

“Wow, I never knew that.” I let out a soft laugh.

“Because you just knew it,” he replies in the most deadpan voice, to which he earns a playful flick on the forehead for being a smartass.

“Ow.”

“Very funny, Viktor.” I giggle faintly as I move on to wash his other arm. Then as I focus my attention to his waist, my mind is suddenly overcome with a brilliant idea.

I press my hands on both sides of his waist and he immediately keels over with a loud laugh.

“Y-Yuuri, stop!” He bawls out in between giggles as my fingers move up and down his sides quickly. “That tickles!”

“Yuuuuuri!” Viktor’s shoulders shake with laughter as I enact his own form of torture onto himself.

 “S-Stop—“ He stops in his sentence as he tries to catch his breath while his laughter reverberates against the walls of the bathroom. “Yuuri is this m-my punishment for tickling you—“

“So, you do know after all!” I make my best impression of an evil maniacal laugh as my fingers dig into the sides of his ribs and he practically falls off the stool a laughing mess. “Now you know how being tickled mercilessly feels!”

“Forgive me!” He breaks out in hysterics while rolling on the floor naked as he tries to swat my hands away to no avail.  
“I promise to n-not—!” He lets out a snort. “I promise not to tickle you as much anymore! Please Yuuri, I can’t take it—“ Viktor turns red as he rolls over to the side while curling himself into a ball.

Being the benevolent person I am, I acquiesce and relinquish my hands from him to cease the tickling. He immediately breathes a sigh of relief as he catches his breath and sits up on the floor.

“God, Yuuri, I never knew you could be such a monster,” Viktor laughs as he places the stool upright before seating himself on it again. “But I still love you anyway.”

I can’t help myself but break out into pure, unrestrained laughter as my cheeks start turning a faint shade of pink.

“Viktor, you’re a dork.” I pick up the shampoo bottle and squeeze an adequate amount of shampoo into my hand before massaging it into his hair.

“But I’m _your_ dork.”

I only turn even pinker as my heart starts hopping inside my ribs.

 

* * *

 

 

After eating lunch, Viktor and I head out for town to make a delivery to Seung-gil’s place. Normally, he’d be the one who comes to the farm to pick up his order and not the other way around. However, he called me during lunch saying that he can’t make it to the farm today because the truck broke down.

And so, here we are, driving through town with Makkachin sticking her head out of the window with tongue flapping freely in the wind.

“So Yuuri, how do you know Seung-gil?” Viktor asks as he looks out of the window with as much fascination as when I first showed him around town. He slowly turns his head around to face me, his eyes narrowed into slits as his lower lip is curled into that dorky pout.

“Is there something I should know about?”

“Viktor, what—“ I feel myself go red at the thought before breaking out into a chuckle. “Viktor, no, Seung-gil is just a businessman who buys his goods from me. You’ve seen him a lot in the farm already when he picks up his orders.” I make a right turn.

“Well, if you say so then.” Viktor looks appeased with the explanation as he giggles to himself softly.

 “How silly of me.” He gives himself a little bonk on the head.

 I laugh softly at how endearingly adorable he can be. What was he thinking, thinking that a business partner and I have something between the two of us?  
When we park in the front of Seung-gil’s bakeshop, I turn off the engine before Viktor and I hop out of the truck. Makkachin is content to remain inside with the seat all to herself. We move to the back to start hoisting out the order for milk and eggs.

“Ah, good afternoon, Katsuki-san,” Seung-gil says in his usual quiet tone as he appears at the entrance with a familiar head of bright yellow hair streaked with red. I think I saw him before, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. “And Viktor.”

Viktor immediately turns his head around to look at him while carrying a crate filled with milk gallons out of the truck.

“Hello!”  
“Ah, let me help you with that.” Seung-gil takes the crate Viktor is carrying before disappearing through the door. Viktor takes another before following him inside to help him unpack.

“U-Um excuse me!” An enthusiastic voice says out as I take three egg cartons from the truck at a time. I pause at what I’m doing for a bit to look at the familiar figure behind me.

“Yuuri-kun, do you remember me?”

I focus on his face intently as I will myself to remember just where I’ve seen him before. I’m sure I saw him before. I just can’t remember where or when. After wracking my brain through for any clues on who he might be, only to come up with nothing.

“I’m really sorry, but….who might you be?”

When a look of disappointment crosses his face, I feel myself to be somewhat responsible for it.

“It’s me, Minami! Minami Kenjiro!” He exclaims enthusiastically despite the flush on his face.  
 “We skated together in the Nationals, remember?”

Ah yes, the dreaded Nationals. It was after my loss in that competition that I officially announced my retirement from the skating world.

“Oh, Minami-kun!” My mind finally clicks in realization. “I knew you looked familiar! I’m so sorry, it’s just been so long since I skated.” I chuckle.

“No, no, it’s alright!” He shakes his head frantically. “I’m just so glad to see you again!” He stretches his hand out and I take it to give it a shake.

“By the way, Minami-kun, what are you doing here in Hasetsu? Aren’t you supposed to be practicing for competitions?”

“Ah, you see…” He begins laughing nervously as he scratches at the back of his head. “I was, but then I had a nasty fall in the rink, you see.”

When I look down, I see that his left leg is in a brace. I feel myself cringe internally at a phantom pain creeping up my leg.

“Oh, that’s terrible,” Minami waves it off with a confident smile on his face as if his injury meant nothing. If I was still skating and in his place, an injury like that would have meant the end of my career. But then I ended my career before anything like that could happen anyway.

“Are you feeling alright though? How about your skating?”

“Oh, I’m feeling way better, actually!” He says as he stretches his bad leg out with a grin on his face. “My leg is slowly getting in better shape ever since I went through therapy.”

“But shouldn’t you be at home right now? You should really heal up and rest!” I say in concern.

“The doctor said it was alright for me to move around, so I’ll be okay. Plus, I thought that I should at least be helpful and get a job while I’m not skating.”

Despite his reassurance, I still can’t help but feel worried for him with his leg in a bad state and all.

“But why here in Hasetsu, though?”

“Well, my family and I just moved in last month since we sold our old house. When my mom told me that we’d be moving here, I was so thrilled to be living in the same town as my idol!”

“Me?” I feel my own cheeks grow a slight pink. “But…I don’t skate anymore, you see.” I let out a quiet, awkward laugh. “I retired years ago.”

“I know that!” His face is still as enthusiastic as ever despite knowing that the person he looked up to no longer skates. “But I’ll always look up to you no matter what!”

I’ve slowly come to terms with my failures in the past but…hearing someone say this to me in person is…just something else.

“Ever since I saw you on the ice, I always thought you looked amazing and then I thought, ‘Wow, I’d like to skate like him someday!’”

“R-Really…?” I can’t help the smile forming on my lips as my blush only gets deeper. “But I always thought…”

I always thought that I had disappointed those who looked up to me for quitting something I was so passionate about.

Minami only shakes his before continuing to speak.

“I’ve always looked up to you, Yuuri-kun! I’ve always wanted to be just as good as you, no—even better!”

“I know you will be.” I smile at him faintly, and my heart grows a little warmer at how someone actually sees me as their inspiration despite my downfalls.

“I’ve always wanted to compete with you in the same rink again, Yuuri-kun.”

“I’m sorry, but I guess that’s not possible…” I say apologetically all while keeping a smile on my face.

 For someone to actually want to skate as the same ice is me…it’s something. But then, I threw the possibility for his dream to compete with me again out the window the moment I retired from the figure skating world.

“No, no, don’t be!” He dismisses the thought with a smile and the wave of a hand. “I’m sure you must have had your own reasons.”

“But for you to really keep going that long, and still perform so great…it’s something I couldn’t even see myself doing before!”

“Really?” I…How?

“Yeah!” He nods happily. “And to be seeing my number one inspiration in skating right here makes me so happy!” Minami jumps on his good leg giddily, which has me worrying for him falling over and hurting himself.

“I know how it feels, Yuuri-kun.” He gives me a sympathetic look as he pats my shoulder. “That feeling of giving up whenever something is stopping you from achieving what you want to achieve.”

In my case, I was the one who was stopping myself from achieving what I’ve always wanted to achieve. Maybe if I hadn’t given up so easy, then Minami would still be skating as the same ice as me.

“When I got my injury, I thought that I’d never skate again but…I’m getting there bit by bit.”

I wish I could say the same for myself. All the years of hard work and training thrown away. I’ve slowly begun my slow descent to obscurity ever since I quit the ice in favor of a quiet, peaceful life with no thrill.

“And…I know you are too.”

Somehow, I hear an unsaid _“If only you hadn’t quit”_ in the back of my mind.

Before our conversation could escalate further, Viktor comes out through the doors to get take another crate from the back of the truck.

“Ah, Minami-kun, let me introduce you.” I grab Viktor by the arm. “This is Viktor.”

“He’s my…boyfriend.”

“Viktor, this is Minami Kenjiro. We used to compete in skating back then.”

“Nice to meet you, Minami!” Viktor beams happily as he stretches his hand out.

Minami takes his hand to shake it and smiles back at him in response.

“Nice to meet you too, Viktor!” Minami says almost enthusiastically.

“Anyway, we better get the delivery inside,” I say. “Seung-gil must be wondering why we’re taking so long.”

“Right.” Minami chuckles as the three of us take to carrying the rest of the delivery from the back of the truck and into the bakeshop.

Minami and I didn’t continue where our conversation left off.

Instead, he engages in pleasant chatter with Viktor and I as we help sort all the things together inside. Once we’re done with sorting out the things, Seung-gil gives us a brief word of thanks before giving his payment.

Before I could take the car keys out of my pocket, Minami hobbles towards me with his good leg.

“Yuuri-kun, I wanted to give you something!” He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a small plush charm that looks like…me?

“I’ve always wanted to give this to you ever since we started competing together but I’ve never really had the chance to.” He places the small charm in my hand. It’s a tiny plush of me in my team Japan jacket.

“Did you make this?” I turn the charm over in my hands and notice that there’s a gold medal around the plush’s neck.

“Yeah, I did.” His cheeks turn red as he grins at me. “I learned how to sew, so…”

“Thank you, Minami-kun.” I hold the little charm close to my chest as my lips curl into a wide smile.  
“I promise to take care of it.”

Minami practically beams at me before throwing his arms around me in a hug.

“You’ll always continue to inspire me, Yuuri-kun.”

When he pulls away, he looks giddy and his grin is twice as bigger now.

Before we leave, Minami and I take a selfie together. As Viktor and I wave goodbye, I make a mental note in myself to watch him skate, whether it be on television or live.

“A fan of yours?” Viktor chuckles as he turns the little charm Minami gave me in his hands.

“I guess you could say that,” I laugh as my cheeks turn a faint pink at having to admit it out loud.

“See, Yuuri? You inspire others more than you hold yourself credit for.”

“I guess you’re right.” My lips curl into a faint smile as a warm and pleasant feeling settles in my chest.

As we make the drive back home, we pass by a jewelry store with a big “50% off sale on selected items” plastered on the display window. Before I could even drive any further, something catches my eyes.

Among the display of fancy jewelry, were two simple golden rings in a simple velvet box.

Suddenly, an idea springs to mind and I can feel myself get all giddy and smiling like an idiot just at the thought.

I park the car across the store before stopping the engine.

“Yuuri, why are we stopping?” Viktor asks as he pets a napping Makkachin on his lap.

“Wait here,” I say as I step out of the car. “I just have to get something real quick.” When I smile at him, my cheeks glow a faint pink.

“Don’t take too long!”

I nod before crossing the street and entering the store.

“Good afternoon, sir, how may I help you?” The clerk greets me as soon as I enter the store.

“Can you show me those rings in the front, please?”

“Why, certainly.” She gives me a short bow before walking to the display window to take the velvet ring box. “Here you go, sir.” She hands me the box and I carefully inspect the rings inside.

They’re gold, simple and plain with no engravings or stones on the surface.

The moment I saw them in that display window, I knew that these would be perfect to have something to show as a token of Viktor and I’s love for each other.

“I’ll take it,” I say as I take my wallet out from my back pocket. “I’ll pay in installments.”

After I proceed to the check-out counter to confirm my purchase, I slip the small velvet box in the inside pocket of my coat before walking out of the store and heading back to the truck.

“What were you doing there, Yuuri?” Viktor asks as I step in and start the engine.

“It’s a secret.” I chuckle and give him a wink before starting the engine and continue driving back home. “If I tell you, then it would ruin the surprise.”

Viktor lets out a soft gasp.

“You have a surprise for me? I love surprises!” He says excitedly.

“It’ll have to wait, so be patient,” I say with a laugh.

 

When we get back home, I place the ring box in the drawer and place the cute little charm Minami made on the shelf. Viktor and I prepare a simple dinner of marinated fried fish over rice and some miso soup while watching news on the television.

_“Breaking news. Locals in the Fukuoka region in Kyushu have spotted an unidentified flying object flying in the skies at six-fifty-five this evening. Witnesses have reported that the strange object is circular in shape and emits a blue glow, making it an exact replica of the unidentified flying object flying over Mount Fuji two months ago.”_

“Wow, another UFO sighting?” I put a piece of fried fish in my mouth. “Viktor, doesn’t that look suspiciously like your space ship?”

“Maybe someone from your planet is coming over?”

When I look at Viktor, I see that he has gone completely still, his eyes glued to the screen in horror.

“Viktor?”

“They’re…” He swallows a lump in his throat. “They’re looking for me.”

“Who?” I place my bowl down on the coffee table as I place my hand over his arm, his muscles tense under my touch. “Who’s looking for you?”

“The people from the army, they…” He worries his lower lip between his teeth. “But why would they send someone all the way here to get me?”

“Listen, Viktor,” I place both of my hands firmly on his shoulders as I look at him directly in the eye.

“No one’s coming after you, okay?”

“How can you be so sure?” The look in his face is panicked now as his voice starts to tremble.

“If they went all the way here to earth to look for me, then surely, they know where I am!”

“Yuuri, I don’t want to go!” The corners of his eyes start welling up with tears.

“I don’t want them to take me away from you!”

“Nobody’s taking you away, Viktor,” I say as calmly as I can as I wrap my arms tightly around him. Slowly, I can feel the tenseness in his muscles dissipate as he starts to relax.

“I won’t let them.”

“Okay.” He pulls away from the embrace and shuts his eyes tightly as he takes in a deep breath. When he exhales, his shoulders descend into a relaxed position.

“I trust you. I’m sorry, I just…” Viktor purses his lips into a tight line as he runs his fingers through his hair.

 “I’m scared.”

I take his hand in mine and rub soothing circles against his knuckles, his skin glowing a faint blue against my touch.

“It’s alright to be. I’m here to protect you, alright?” I tug the corners of my lips into a faint yet sweet smile.

“You’re right.” The tightness in his lips disappears as he smiles back at me faintly. “I’m not going anywhere.”

“Right.” I nod as I see the worry in his eyes slowly evaporating. I take the remote from the couch and switch to another channel.  
“Do you want to continue eating dinner?”

“Alright.” He lets out a tiny chuckle as he picks his bowl up and continues where he left off on dinner.

After all the bowls have been cleared and washed, Viktor and I decide to watch some late-night anime on television to kill the time.

Everything is relatively peaceful, with Viktor slowly drifting off to sleep propped up against my shoulder when I hear a loud banging on the door, sending him jolting awake.

“Who is it?” I get off the couch to walk towards the door. I feel my throat tighten a little just at how angry the banging sounded. Maybe it’s the people from PSIA and they know that I’m housing an alien? Oh god.

When I open the door, I’m greeted to the sight of a scowling blond teenager in a tiger print hoodie.

I let out a sigh of relief.

“May I help you?”

“Yuuri, who is that?” Viktor rubs his eyes sleepily as he walks towards the door.

“Viktor!” The teenager screams at the top of his lungs and Viktor practically freezes in his tracks. He pushes his way past me and curtly makes his way inside.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing—“

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing here?!” The blond teenager yells as he grabs at the front of Viktor’s shirt as he stands directly eye to eye with him.

“Yuri?” Viktor looks more dumbfounded than threatened. “What are you doing all the way here?”

“That’s what I should be asking you, old man!” He spits out, his green eyes glaring at him violently.

“W-W-Wait, just what is going on here?!” I push the teenager who apparently shares the same name as me away from Viktor and I only earn a violent glare from him. “Can somebody explain this to me?”

“And who the fuck _are_ you?!” He yells as he practically jabs his finger against my chest, sending me shuffling slightly backwards.

“That’s what I should be asking you!” I answer him in the same tone he spoke to me. No rude teenager is talking down to me tonight.

“First, you barge into my home and now you harass me and my boyfriend!”

“Wait, boyfriend?” His brow raises in confusion as he gives Viktor a glance, then back at me, and then Viktor before breaking out into laughter that sounds forced.

“Oh, I see how it is!” He claps his hands together as he walks his way towards Viktor.

“What do you mean?” Viktor asks as he stands in front of me defensively, the tone in his voice different now.

“Oh, don’t act dumb, Viktor!” He hisses and then points an accusatory finger towards me. “I know perfectly damn well why you’re living with this human!”

“It’s because I love him, Yuri—“

“Bullshit!” He swats the air with his arm as he takes a step closer. “Say whatever you will, Viktor, but Henrik is dead!”

Henrik? Isn’t that Viktor’s past lover?

“I know that, Yuri!” I can feel myself flinch back as Viktor yells back, his voice trembling a bit.  
“I’ve accepted that, and now I’ve started a new life here on earth with Yuuri.”

Yuri scoffs and then gives me a pointed look.

“You know something Viktor didn’t tell you?”

“Yuri, stop—“ Viktor abruptly gets cut off when Yuri shoves him away from me.

“You look a lot like Henrik.”

“So what if I do?” I talk back towards him, my voice wavering suspicions begin to invade my mind.  
No. That can’t be true.

“You’re nothing but his replacement,” Yuri bites back, his voice laced with venom. “He’s only with you because you look a lot like someone he used to know.”

“Yuri, stop that.”

“Did you really think Viktor loves you for who you are?”

The pit in my stomach grows heavy as I feel my throat close tighten. What he’s saying is not true. Viktor loves me for who I am and not because I look like Henrik. I want his words not to win over me.

But they do.

And they hit me hard.

I feel my breath and my words get lodged at the base of my throat as I start trembling.

“I’m taking Viktor back, and he’s going to go home with me.”

“I’m not going anywhere, Yuri,” Viktor says. If he’s angry now, then he doesn’t let it show. “I’m not going back to kill innocent people again.”

“The war is over, Viktor. We’ve lost.” Yuri says bitterly. If Viktor’s eyes showed a hint of relief at that, he doesn’t show it outright.

“The general is too dead to bother looking for fugitives like you.”

“Viktor.” I clench my hands into trembling fists at my sides, my voice trembling just as much as I meet his eyes.

“Is this true? Do I really look like Henrik?” My eyes get foggy as tears start forming in the corner of my eyes.

“Yes,” Viktor says almost bitterly before his lips press into a fine, tight line. “You resemble him so much.”

When I shut my eyes tightly, tears start streaming down my cheeks.

“Don’t listen to what he’s saying, Yuuri,” his voice is soft and gentle as he cradles my wet cheeks in his palms, his thumbs wiping my tears dry.  
“I love you for who you are, not because you look like someone I used to know.”

I so badly want to believe his words. He sounds so sincere.

I really want to believe his words. I really do, but then my doubts win over my faith in him.

Despite his words, despite his assurances, there is still that thread of anxiety just dangling right inside my mind.

And the worst thing is, I find myself believing in them instead of believing in the words of the man I love.

“Viktor…” My eyes are downcast as I place my hands over his. I can’t bring myself to look at him directly in the eye. I take his hands off my face and I inch away from him.  
“I’m sorry. Please leave me alone for a bit.”

When I look at him, the look on his face is hurt.

“Yuuri, please…” He pleads weakly.

I purse my lips tightly as I quietly make my way to the store room.

“Please leave,” I say as I pass by Yuri.

“I’m not leaving until Viktor agrees to go home with me.”

Too tired to argue, I slip by quietly and open the door to the storage room and lock it behind me.

As I slide myself down on the floor and fold my knees to my chest, a soft sob escapes my lips.

“Yuuri?” Viktor raps at the door. “Please open up!” His voice is pleading. I want to believe him. I want to believe that he loves me for me, not because I just look like someone and yet, I can’t help but doubt.

All the ugliest parts of my mind come to haunt me once again as the thrumming in my ears only grows louder and louder as my breathing becomes ragged.

“Yuuri, please open up! I want to talk to you!”

“Leave him, Viktor!”

The voices from the other side of the door are muffled as I curl in on myself, the bitter tears of doubt searing tracks against my cheeks.

“Yuuri!” When Viktor’s voice cracks, so does my heart.

“Viktor, Henrik is dead and he will never be him!”

_I know that._

And yet….why do I feel like this? Why are my doubts swallowing me whole?

“Let’s go home, Viktor!”

_No no no no please don’t go away._

Tears rain down my cheeks like bullets as I feel the ugly phantom that is myself breathe down my neck.

“Don’t listen to him, Yuuri!”

The voices grow distorted now as the phantom starts whispering in my ear.

_You’re nothing but his replacement._

_Did you really think he would see you as you are?_

_You? A good-for-nothing loser who can’t even stand up for himself?_

_Pathetic._

_Who do you think he’s thinking of whenever he’s with you?_

“Viktor…” I mutter out softly as I wrap my arms around myself tightly. I want to call out to him, to talk to him and let him settle my doubts. But my voice is much too weak, and I’m too afraid.

“Yuuri, please talk to me!”

The voices from the other side become distorted and fuzzy as I collapse in on myself on the floor, my body curled up tightly into a ball as soft sobs wrack my body.

I don’t want to believe any of it.

And yet I already find myself doing the exact opposite.

My doubt consumes me whole.

 

The ring box lies forgotten in the other room.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woah boy we're 2 chapters away until this fic reaches its conclusion!  
> fluff makes way for more tears!
> 
> thank you so much for sticking with me this long!  
> never would i have thought that i'd actually write at least 4 chapters for this fic either
> 
> anywho, if u enjoyed, pls scream with me in the comments or follow me on twitter [@chattoyant_zee](https://twitter.com/chattoyant_zee)


	8. Chapter 8

Viktor is leaving.

The look on his face is mournful as he turns to look back at me one last time.

Ahead of him is a giant spherical craft that glows ominously against the night sky. Inside the craft is Yuri, waiting for Viktor as he sits impatiently in front of the dashboard.

Viktor turns around and walks away from me, his figure blurring at the edges like a hologram as he goes farther and farther away from me.

 _“Viktor, no! Please, don’t leave me!”_ I want to scream out but no words would come out of my mouth.

As tears begin flooding my eyes, my legs immediately spring to life.

 I run and run and run, hoping to embrace him one last time and hold him in my arms. Yet no matter how much I run, I still can’t get to him. It’s like I’m running on a vast treadmill. I stretch my arms out to grasp a figure I can’t reach as the ground beneath me only keeps me from advancing.

My lungs burn and my eyes begin to blur with tears as he turns around once again to look at me.  
He opens his mouth to speak but no words come out.

 _“Come with me,”_ his voice seems to echo in my mind.

Suddenly, the ground beneath my feet allows me to progress, to move closer towards him as he stretches his arm out towards me in invitation.

_“Yes, wherever you go, I will go.”_

My feet move in time with the erratic beating of my heart, my breaths ragged and short as I sprint closer and closer towards him.

_“Viktor!”_

Just as I wrap my arms around him, his form disappears like a cloud of smoke.

My arms are empty and feel heavier than they’ve ever felt before.

When I look up, the space ship is gone with only the vast blanket of cosmos overhead, stark in its beauty and isolation.

_“No….”_

My voice comes out trembling as I bring my hands to my face.

_“Please don’t leave me alone…”_

When I cry, the tears sear against my cheeks and leave burning fissures in its wake. My heart feels like it’s been wrenched forcefully out of my chest.

Suddenly, the sky overhead begins to crack and implode in on itself.

* * *

 

When I wrench my eyelids open, the gray autumn sunlight filters in through the window, the dust motes glittering as they float lazily through the beams of light.

The air around me is chilly and musty as I rub at the gooseflesh on my arms. When I sit up on the floor and put my glasses on to look around, it occurs to me that I slept here in the storage room last night, with only old stuff and boxes to keep me company after that outburst.

I feel terrible.

I rub my face with my palms as if it will erase the regret away.

I hate how I acted last night.

Even remembering how his voice trembled last night just makes my heart shatter more than it already has.

I doubted him.

And it hurt him more than it has hurt me.

As I get myself off the floor and stand up, I make my way to the door to undo the lock and step outside with trepidation weighing heavily against my chest.

When I make my way out, the pleasant scent of breakfast wafts through the air.

Viktor must have went through all the trouble of making breakfast for me despite what happened last night.

When I make my way quietly towards the dining table, Viktor is still here. I let out a silent breath of relief upon seeing my worst fears go unconfirmed.

After what happened last night, and after that strange dream, I half-expected him to be gone and be halfway throughout the galaxy by now. And yet here he is, right in front of me.

Viktor sits with his back hunched over the table upon which three plates of hot steaming breakfast rest.

He doesn’t notice me moving closer towards him. And when I do, I notice that his eyes are red and sunken from crying. The sight of him alone makes my throat tighten and close up.

When Viktor takes in a heavy sigh, he buries his face in his palms quietly as his lips are pursed into a fine, tight line. Seeing him now, like this….it makes me feel even worse for the way I acted last towards him last night. I never knew that my doubts would hurt him this much.

As I make way behind him, my heart speeds up against my chest. Will he get mad at me? Tell me how much I hurt him?

Whatever he has to say….I probably deserve it.

“Viktor…” When I place his hand on his back, he immediately takes his face away from his hands to look at me. My hand flinches away as if I had touched something hot.

“Yuuri?” When he looks at me, the look on his face is absolutely heart-wrenching, the clear blue of his eyes dulled down with unshed tears against its reddened backdrop.

Before Viktor opens his mouth to speak, he presses his lips together tightly

“Yuuri, I’m so sorry for what happened last night—“

Before he can even continue his sentence, I cut him off as I wrap his arms tightly around him and press my face against the crook of his neck.

“No, Viktor,” I say, and the tears start streaming down my face as he only wraps his arms around me quietly as if waiting for me to continue speaking. “I shouldn’t have doubted you.” As I sniffle, he starts carding his fingers through my hair tenderly as if I hadn’t hurt him at all.

“You’ve went through so much more than I can ever imagine…” I sob out softly as my tears start wetting the crook of his neck. “You were so happy to finally be free here on earth…”

“Yuuri, I…” He opens his mouth to speak, but doesn’t continue his sentence.

“And yet…” I sniffle again and pull myself out from the crook of his neck to look at him directly, my eyes blurry and hazy with tears. “And yet, all I did was doubt your love when it’s right in front of me…”

I’m an idiot.

I ruin everything just because I’m not strong enough to not believe the words that my mind has twisted into something ugly. And when I do believe those words, they fester in my mind and render me blind to the truth that is blatantly put right before my eyes.

Similar things have happened to me more times than I can count just because I lose faith in myself and the people who love me.

I’ve ruined my career and just now, I was _this_ close to ruining the relationship I have with the man that truly believes in me despite my shortcomings. I thought that I’d changed, that I’d gotten rid of this side of myself.

And yet, it’s still here. Ever-present as the day it first manifested itself in my mind.

Every time I try to drown my demons, they just learn how to swim their way into the ugliest parts of my mind to whisper things that I end up believing.

Whenever I think I’m winning against myself, I’m thrust back into the dark void with nothing but the sound of my own doubts echoing in my mind.

Viktor goes out of his way despite all the pain he’s experienced in his life just to show how much he loves me and yet what did I do? Doubt him the moment something trivial comes up.

“I’m so sorry, Viktor…” I take my glasses off to wipe the tears on my face. “You deserve to be happy and yet…I made you sad by doubting you.” I sniffle as I put my glasses back on to get a clear look at him. The look on his face now is caught between pensive and surprised.

“I’m the worst,” I laugh out dryly as I bunch my hands into fists against the front of his sweater. It’s the exact same thing that I’m wearing, as usual.

When images of that dream I had of him leaving flash in my mind, my breath only hitches.

“You won’t leave me, right?” I sound pathetic, my voice small and pitiful.

“Oh, Yuuri…” When Viktor presses his palm against the side of my face, I lean in to the warmth of his touch. His voice is soft and quiet as he runs the pads of his fingers against the tear tracks on my cheeks.

“Why would you think that I would?” The look in his eyes is equally as sad and soft as the smile on his lips.

“Y-Your brother came here last night saying that he’s taking you with him back home and…”

 I clamp my mouth tightly shut as I feel my throat tighten at how impossibly gentle he is with me despite having hurt him.

“Seeing as he’s your brother, then….I was thinking that…” I purse my lips tightly to swallow the lump that had formed at the back of my throat.

“I was thinking that…” When tears cascade down my eyes again, Viktor swipes my cheek with his thumb to wipe the tears away. “I was thinking that you’d be gone by now…”

“And then I’d…” I let out a soft sob as I bury my face against his chest. And when he does, his hand comes to rest against my back to rub soothing circles against it as he listens to me quietly.

“I’d be alone again…”

“Oh, Yuuri.” He buries his face against my hair to press a kiss against my head.

“This _is_ my home now.” When he pulls away he presses the warmth of his hands on both sides of my face so I can look at him directly. The look on his face is too warm and loving for someone like me to even deserve.

“Brother or no brother, I’m staying here with you, Yuuri.”

He closes the space between us as he leans forward to press a kiss against my cheek. The tips of his fingers run gently against my cheeks as he presses his forehead against mine, his eyes clear and warm and full of love as he looks into mine.

“I’m never leaving you unless you ask me to, Yuuri.”

“I’d never ask you to do something like that, Viktor…” I mumble out softly as I feel the beginnings of a smile form on my face.  
As the corners of my lips tug up into a faint smile, I can feel my cheeks burn softly as he smiles back at me in that impossibly beautiful smile of his.

“I hope you’d never leave at all …” I say quietly, with lashes lowered as if it will cover up the blatant expression on my face.  
“I-I know it’s selfish of me, but…” The blush on my face only darkens. And when I lift up my lashes to look at Viktor directly, the look on his face is a mixture of love struck and amused.

“Selfish?” Viktor’s body shakes with laughter as if it was the most amusing thing he’s heard in years.  
“Yuuri, do you even hear yourself right now?” He mushes my cheeks together before pulling me in tightly for a hug and effectively placing me on his lap.

“You’re the least selfish person I know.” He laughs against my hair before leaving another kiss on my head.

“Nearly everything you do is for others instead of yourself.” His fingers run through my hair again as my face is pressed up against his chest to breathe in his scent.

“It’s about time you do something for yourself, Yuuri.” His voice is sweet and soothing as it flows smoothly like honey in my ears. “Someone with a heart as kind as yours deserves it, after all.”

“Viktor…” I mumble softly against his chest as my cheeks only burn brighter and the smile on my face only get even wider. As I get my face off of his chest, I position myself like so on his lap as cradle the side of his face with my hand.

“You never fail to make me smile, don’t you?” I chuckle softly as I run my thumb against the smooth porcelain of his skin.

He leans in to my touch and places his hand over mine as he smiles back at me.

“Nothing but the best for the one I love,” he lets out a soft chuckle before taking my hand to press a kiss against my knuckle and I laugh.

“You’re insufferable, Viktor,” I laugh as I swat at his hand playfully.

“But you love me anyway,” he laughs in response as he only peppers numerous kisses against my face and sending my body trembling with laughter.

“I can’t exactly lie about that.” I grin at him before taking his face between my hands and leaning myself closer towards him to give him a soft, chaste kiss on the lips.

 “Anyway, Viktor, are you hungry?”

“My, how forward of you, Mr. Katsuki,” he flutters his eyelashes at me coyly as he smirks at me from behind his hand.

“You idiot.” I give him a playful smack on the head as I laugh. “I meant breakfast.”

“But of course,” Viktor chuckles as he places his hands around my waist to lift me off his lap before sliding myself into a chair.

To be honest, I kind of half-expected him to insist on me sitting on his lap while eating breakfast. That is something I can never tell him face to face.

As I pull a plate of bacon, eggs and toast towards myself to start eating, I notice that the third plate on the table has been left untouched.

“Hey Viktor, where did your brother go?” I ask him as I slice the egg with my fork. I still get bad vibes from his brother especially with how rude he acted last night to have the audacity to barge in my house. Teenagers may be moody but Yuri is by far the moodiest teenager I’ve ever seen.

And I’ve only seen him for less than ten minutes, too.

Viktor only lets out a sigh as he takes his toast to smear butter on it.

“He’s sleeping in the tool shed right now.” He takes a bite from the toast.

Despite his apparent rudeness, I feel a little bad for a kid like Yuri having to sleep outside where it’s cold.

“He said he wouldn’t leave until I agreed to go back to Adamanta with him.” Viktor takes another bite from the bread. “I tried to reason with him that I’m not going anywhere but he just wouldn’t take any of it.”

Memories of the previous night of him screaming and accusing Viktor of staying with me just because I look like a past lover come flooding into my mind as I chew the egg in my mouth thoroughly.

Yeah. I can definitely see how he wouldn’t have any of it.

“He’s probably cooled down now that he’s got a good night’s sleep.”

“Is he…” I pause a bit to structure my words into a sentence that doesn’t come off as offensive. Yuri and Viktor may not agree with one another when it comes to this situation, but Viktor still cares about his brother regardless. “Is Yuri always like that…?”

“Oh, yeah,” Viktor chuckles as if he hadn’t been crying the other night because of the intrusion of a certain someone. “He may come off as rude and abrasive but deep down, he’s a good kid.”

“Sometimes, he just tends to speak his mind out without realizing that he’s hurting other people, but…” A soft, faint smile graces Viktor’s face.

“I know he means well.”

“I see.” The tone of my voice is my flat and deadpan as I continue eating my breakfast.

“I know he hasn’t had a god impression especially because of the way he acted last night, but…” Viktor takes a piece of bacon in his mouth and swallows before opening his mouth to speak again.  
“Once you get to know him, he’ll really warm up to you.”

I’m not sure if screaming at your brother and accusing them of something the moment they barge into your house comes off as warm, but I decide against saying it.

“When I first met him, even, he would ignore me a lot and call me a sappy old man and now, although he doesn’t want to admit it, really cares a lot about me.”

“So Yuri isn’t your biological brother?” Well, that explains how they don’t share a resemblance with one another.

“Uh-huh.” Viktor nods as he takes a sip from a glass of milk. “He was really young when he first joined the army and seeing that he’s a kid, I couldn’t just leave him to fight on his own.”

The look on Viktor’s face now is fond as he reminisces the past. And then, I begin to wonder why the people back on his planet would allow someone so young to fight in a war adults started in the first place.

“I know you probably think of him as a rude, moody teenager but once you get to spend more time with each other, he’s like a completely different person,” Viktor chuckles.

If Viktor goes out of his way to defend Yuri, then he must really care about him a lot. Seeing that he’s a part of Viktor’s life, I don’t see why I can’t get to talk to him and know more about him despite his prickly exterior.

But then again, most people aren’t exactly as they seem on their first impression.

Maybe he really is just as good of a person as Viktor says.

I sigh. Doing that can’t exactly be easy when he already disliked me the moment we first laid eyes on each other.

“Is something wrong, Yuuri?” Viktor asks as he notices my sighing.

“It’s nothing. It’s just that…” I trail off a bit before continuing.

 “Yuri is a really big part of your life and I’d really want to get to know him but…what if he just gets angry at me ‘for keeping you here?’” I add finger quotes in the air for emphasis.

“Oh, don’t worry, I’ll be right with you when you talk to him.” Viktor laughs softly.

“And believe me, Yuuri, you aren’t keeping me anywhere.” He pokes my leg with his foot from underneath the table.  
“I simply choose to be here with you.”

I poke him back and let out a laugh as my cheeks start turning a faint pink before returning my attention to the plate laid out before me.

After clearing our plates, I take the plate of breakfast in my hand, with Viktor holding a glass of milk as the both of us head out to give Yuri his food.

 Makkachin trots behind us happily with her tail wagging in the air as her nose follows the scent of food.

After spending the night outside, Yuri must be really hungry. He may have been rude last night, but I take Viktor’s word to heart that he may not be so bad after all. Yet again, I can’t help but feel myself grow uneasy as I feel an impending argument as we near the shed.

“Yuri?” I say as softly as I can as I knock on the door, hoping not to disturb him in case if he’s still asleep.

“Can I come in?”

I wait for a few seconds, but he doesn’t answer. I knock the door again.

“Yuri? Are you there?”

When I open the door, there is no one inside the shed but a yellow cat with three…tails?  It’s curled up against a piece of tarp when it moves to lick its paw.

When I stretch my free hand out to give the strange cat a pat, it hisses at me and I recoil before it could even think of scratching me. Its eyes glow green in the dimness of the shed as it turn its head to…glare at me?

“Let me handle this, Yuuri,” Viktor says as he pushes his way past me and walks into the shed armed with a glass of milk.

“Be careful, Viktor!” I say as he crouches down before the cat and lays the glass of milk before it.  
“You might get scratched!”

“Don’t worry, Yuuri, I know what I’m doing,” he assures me as he gives the cat a poke on the head, to which he earns an annoyed meow.  
“You can get out of that form now, Yuri.”

Wait, what?

The cat makes a sound between scoffing and grunting as its form immediately morphs right in front of my very eyes before morphing into…Yuri?

All I can do at the moment is stand with my mouth agape at someone shape-shift right in front of my very eyes. I mean, Viktor does it every day to change his clothes but, this is something new.

“The last thing I wanted first thing in the morning was for you to piss me off, old man,” Yuri spits out at Viktor who, on the other hand, remains unfazed as he gives him a faint smile.

“Had a good night?” Viktor asks as Yuri hops off the tarp and picks up the glass of milk before sniffing at it cautiously. He takes an experimental sip from the glass and his eyebrow raises up in what looks like to be…satisfaction? Delight? I can’t really tell.

I hesitantly make my way inside, my footsteps feather-light as I place the plate on a crate beside him. When I pass by, he immediately turns to look at me before the look in his eyes morph into something like subdued distaste.

I let out a soft sigh as I stand behind Viktor. It’s clear from the look in his eyes alone that he doesn’t like me.

“About as good as it can get when you’re on another planet looking after a certain someone’s ass,” Yuri remarks sarcastically as he downs the entire glass of milk before setting the glass down with a clink on a wooden crate.

As the striking green of his eyes meet mine again, I feel my body tense up a little. I expect him to bring up the topic of taking Viktor back to their planet, but he doesn’t, and lets out a soft sigh instead as he averts his gaze from mine. He picks up the plate I set down on the crate beside him and stuffs his mouth with a bacon strip before the look on his face morphs into that of surprise.

“Um, Yuri…” I begin quietly, and his head perks up from his plate as he turns to look at me. Although nervous, I tug the corners of my lips into a smile to show that I mean no harm. If I’m going to get along with him, then I should at least make the first move.  
“Would you like to join us inside?” As I make my offer, Viktor smiles at me faintly.  
“It’s cold out here, after all.”

Yuri deliberates the thought for a bit as he nibbles at the end of a bacon strip, the look on his face much more mellowed-out now as compared to yesterday. To be honest, I was half-expecting him to yell at me and Viktor the moment he saw us. But then again, I barely know him and it would probably do all of us well to put past aggressions behind and try to get along.

“Alright,” Yuri says with a sigh as he takes the entire bacon strip into his mouth and chewing it thoroughly as if inspecting the unusual food for its taste.

He takes the plate in his hand as we head out of the shed, with Viktor’s arm wrapped snugly around my waist. When I notice him staring, his eyes immediately widen to the size of saucers before averting his gaze as the bridge of his nose is dusted a faint pink.

A bit strange, but I don’t really make anything of it.

When Makachin sniffs at the new visitor, Yuri shuffles to the side to avoid her as he shoos her.

“It’s alright, Yuri, Makkachin is a good dog,” Viktor comments with a slight chuckle as she only sniffs at him curiously the more he tries to shoo her away.

For some reason, I still can’t get over the fact that I share the same name as him so whenever Viktor calls out his name, I don’t know whether to answer to it or just ignore it. And so, to save myself the cost of accidentally embarrassing myself, I just give Viktor a glance to see who he’s looking at when calling the name out before deciding to answer or not.

“Shut up, I can take care of myself,” Yuri grumbles as he finally decides to give up on shooing Makkachin away and let her sniff at him to her heart’s content instead.  
“It’s not like I’m scared of some stupid….” Yuri pauses for a bit, the look on his face softening visibly as Makkachin paws at his leg. “Whatever this is.” He sighs and gives the puppy a little pat on the head, earning an approving bark from Makkachin. If his expression brightens even further, then I don’t comment on it.

Viktor only lets out a chuckle as he watches Makkachin follow behind Yuri with a happy a wag of the tail.

As Viktor opens the door to the farm house, the four of us step in and I remove myself from his grasp to head to the kitchen.

“Would you like something to drink, Yuri?” I offer as I make work of taking a mug out of the cupboard.

Seeing him now, he doesn’t look as hostile as he did last night. Maybe whatever that’s got him so riled up the other night probably cooled down. It’s as if the incident that happened last night never took place at all.

Yuri’s head perks up as he takes a seat on the couch, with Makkachin hopping beside him.

He remains silent for a bit before finally deciding on opening his mouth to speak. When he does, however, I can’t help but notice how much he keeps averting his gaze from me. Not to mention, his cheeks are blushing as well.  
 It’s as if he’s afraid to look at me directly in the eye.

“Yeah, thanks,” he mumbles quickly before returning his attention back to Makkachin, his hands running against her curly brown fur. “Anything is alright.”

I give a quiet nod and make some coffee with extra milk and sugar, assuming that’s he’s one of the people who claims to like their coffee black only to add lots of sugar and milk whenever no one’s looking.

“Here you go.” I set the finished drink before him on the coffee table before sitting on the sofa across him.

“Yuuri!” Both of our heads turn towards the sound of Viktor’s voice, unsure of which Yuri he’s referring to.

When Yuri realizes that Viktor’s head is turned towards me, he quickly turns his head away with a soft blush on his face before taking his drink and taking a sip from it.

“Yes, Viktor?” I give him a faint smile as he slings a towel over his head, which I personally think is a cute look on him.

“Aren’t you coming along to take a bath?” He says casually without regards for the presence of a minor in the room.

Yuri spits out his coffee as his face practically turns red before taking a sip from the mug again. He’s probably heard too much of what he doesn’t need to know. Now, I’m blushing myself.

“Hmm maybe not today, Viktor,” I chuckle, the minor in the room clearly uncomfortable overhearing our conversation as he makes a show of facing anywhere else but Viktor and I’s direct line of sight while petting Makkachin. “Why don’t you go ahead? I’ll take a bath after you.”

“Aww, alright then,” he curls his lips into a slight pout before walking off towards the bathroom. Viktor and I have been taking our baths together every day now ever since I’ve become comfortable enough to be naked around someone else in a completely innocent context. (Well, most of the time. More often than not, innocent bath times lead to something not so innocent.)

When Viktor leaves, the air between us is quiet, and a bit awkward.

I take it upon myself to break the awkward atmosphere by making small talk with him.

“So, Yuri…funny how we both have the same name, huh?”

I can already tell that my attempt at conversing with him will probably end very badly. He looks up from his mug, and when he puts it down, the blush on his face has lessened.

“If you ask me, it’s kinda confusing,” he comments briefly before returning his attention back to his mug. He still doesn’t look at me directly.

“I know, right?” I add a chuckle for good measure in order to lighten the mood, which, quite frankly, works poorly.

Never would I have thought that a day would come wherein I’d be the one to initiate small talk. Usually, the other party does that whenever I’d feel too awkward to talk. The dead air between us is heavy, suffocating, almost as he keeps avoiding my gaze. It’s like he wants to tell me something but can’t bring himself to, which I understand.

If I’m going to get along with Viktor’s brother, then I should at least wait for him to open up to me rather than force him into it.

“So, Yuri…you and Viktor were together in the army, right?”

At this, his head perks up from the coffee mug and he finally looks directly at me before opening his mouth to speak.

“Yeah, sort of…” He mumbles quietly before taking another sip of coffee. “Did he tell you that?”

“Yeah,” I let out a soft chuckle that sounds more relaxed and less forced this time. “He also told me that you got him a pet back when you were in the camps too,” I add, deciding to avoid the depressing aspects of Yuri and Viktor’s war-torn past.

“Yeah, I did.” He replies quietly as the faintest smile begins to form on his lips. “It’s a seal-cat I found wandering around…”

Yuri takes another sip from his mug before placing the empty cup on the coffee table. “It looked really lonely so I decided to give it to him…and well…” He pauses a bit before his cheeks begin to turn pink again, as if admitting whatever he’s going to say out loud could shame him.

 “He was lonely too so I kind of…decided that he needed something to take care of and something.”

Maybe this must be the side of him that Viktor was talking about.

I think there’s a word for that kind of personality wherein one initially shows off as brash and rude only to be nice and kind on the inside for the person they care about—a tsundere.

“I think that’s really kind of you.” When I smile at him, his eyes only widen like saucers before turning even redder.

“So..” he begins as he takes a deep inhale to will the blush on his face away.

I wonder if he’s aware that it’s not working? I’ve done the same thing a lot already only for my face to be still as red as ever, which has become a constant subject of Viktor’s playful teasing.

“You and Viktor are together…right?”

“As together as living together can be,” I giggle, but when I look at him, the look on his face is pensive and quiet as if he’s contemplating something.

“I see.” He lets out a sigh as he locks he wrings his fingers together on his lap. His lips are pursed in a tight line as if something is troubling him.

“You love him, right?”

The question catches me off-guard. Was he…jealous, perhaps? A younger brother jealous of the attention his older brother gives to his lover sounds weird, but doesn’t sound unlikely.

But then again, I could just be thinking over things too much and interpreting them way differently than they actually are.

Being his brother, he’s most likely just worried for his well-being now that he’s in a completely different planet.

“Of…of course I do.” When I answer him, a faint blush begins to dust my cheeks.  
“I love your brother more than anything else in the world.”

And it’s true. Ever since he came into my life, everything has changed for the better.

My answer apparently catches him off-guard too when I see his expression change visibly into…understanding? I can’t be so sure.

“I see then.” As Yuri sighs, he places his hand back on Makkachin’s fur to thread his fingers absently through her curls.

The dead air settles heavily between us again when the both of us remain silent.

“Is he…happy?” He speaks up after a while.

Happy? Viktor has told me that he’s been the happiest than he’s ever been, but…I think it’s best if I leave Yuri to hearing the answer from Viktor himself.  
I may know a lot about him but then…there are still things about his life that I can’t be certain about.

Like Yuri himself, for example.

“I think that’s a question best answered by Viktor himself.”

“Okay.” He gives a brief nod before focusing his attention back to petting Makkachin.

And just like that, the dead air begins to settle again just as quickly as it had left in that brief moment, with the thick atmosphere dissipating as soon as Viktor enters the scene with only a towel tied around his waist.

“Yuuri, it’s your turn to use the shower.”

“Ah, alright.” I get off the chair and before I could head to the bathroom, I give my namesake a quick glance.  
“Do you want to use the shower after me?”

“I guess,” he mumbles in a deadpan voice.

Taking it as a yes, I walk towards the shower and wash myself up for the morning. After I’m finished, I introduce Yuri to the workings of the shower before leaving him to shower up.

After everyone has had their bath, Viktor and I walk outside to do the day’s duties, with Yuri and Makkachin trailing behind us.

Viktor is dressed in the same thing as I am as usual, which Yuri takes notice of the moment Viktor and I walk out of the room after changing.

“Yuri, do you want to help out with the chores?” Viktor blurts out as he heads to the tool shed to gather some farm tools. “This is what Yuri and I do every day.”

“You’re farmers?”

“Something like that,” Viktor chuckles. “Yuuri calls it our livelihood.”

“It _is_ our livelihood,” I interrupt with a soft laugh as I turn on the water sprinkler to water the crops.

“Once the vegetables are ready for harvest, we send them off to people who want to buy them,” Viktor adds with a slight chuckle to his voice.

“Hm.” He hums as he follows the idle movement of the water sprinkler sprinkling the soil and the plants with moisture.

“Alright, I’ll help.” Yuri folds his arms over his chest. “Just tell me what to do.”

“Why don’t you and Viktor help with feeding the animals while I fix some stuff?”

“Sure.”

“Yuuri, you’re not going to be helping us?” Viktor is at it again with his playful whine before his lips ultimately curl into a goofy smile.

“Nope. I have some other things to do,” I smile back at him before picking up some tools and walking towards the fence to fix the pickets in place.

Now with Yuri in the picture, the two of them probably need to spend some time together to pick up where they left off before Viktor ultimately left their home planet.

Surviving the war and living through so much horror…the two of them probably have something they want to tell another. Seeing how Yuri seemed so furious last night and how he went through all the trouble of traveling to another galaxy just to see Viktor again…I can see just how much he cares about Viktor as his brother. He probably needs some time alone with him.

Yuri is a big part of Viktor’s life. Having just arrived here yesterday, I barely know anything about him apart from the fact that he’s Viktor’s brother.

Come to think of it, Viktor didn’t really talk much about him asides from that one instance.

Just when I begin to think that I know more and more about Viktor, the more I realize just how much I don’t know about him.

As I begin working on the fence, I look behind my shoulder and watch the two of them talk with one another, the looks on their faces slowly taking on a quieter, serious expression, with Viktor pausing in his tracks when Yuri talks to him as he takes out a bag of feed from the shed.

When Viktor nods at something that Yuri says, the both of them head inside the barn where they presumably resume their conversation.

With the issue of Yuri and Viktor in mind, I return my attention back to fixing the fence.

After the fence has been fixed, I head back to the shed to put the tools back before heading to the barn to check on Viktor and Yuri.

Viktor has his arm around the young boy’s shoulders, chuckling as the both of them look at the chickens scurrying to the through to get their breakfast.

The look on Yuri’s face is happy and content, a soft grin on his face as he pokes at Viktor’s hairline, to which he earns a scowl as Viktor runs his fingers self-consciously through his hair.

Just the sight of Viktor enjoying himself with someone he holds close…it makes me feel all warm and fuzzy on the inside to know that there are other people who hold him close to their heart.

I can’t help but feel the beginnings of a smile creep up my lips.

“How’s the feeding going?”

 When I step inside the barn, both of their heads turn to look at me and the grin on Yuri’s face disappears. A pang of guilt suddenly hits me somehow.

Yuri turns his head to look away and begins running his hand against one of the chickens’ feathers while sulking quietly.

“Oh, it’s doing great, Yuuri!” Viktor answers happily.

“Yuri’s getting the hang of it, too!” He ruffles the top of Yuri’s head, earning him an annoyed swat of the hand.

“Yeah, I guess,” Yuri mumbles quietly as he dips his hand into the trough and forming random patterns on the feed. “I guess this farming thing isn’t so bad.”

“Viktor told me that you used to plant your own crops back when you were in the army,” I break the ice in hopes of dissolving the awkward tension hanging low in the atmosphere.  
“Is that right?”

“Yeah, back when rations were short, we had to grow our own food if we were going to survive,” Yuri replies quietly.

 When the tone of his voice taking on a slightly bitter tone, Viktor places a hand on his back as if to steady him.

 It’s as if recalling the event itself reminded him of something else.

“I see. It must have been really tough out there.”

“Yeah.” Yuri’s shoulders slump visibly before attempting to straighten them up.

 The look in his eyes bore that hint of sadness that I’d often see in Viktor’s. However, his was tinged with something like anger, just as enigmatic as Viktor had been when I barely knew anything about him.

“Ah, that reminds me!” Viktor blurts out with a soft pat on Yuri’s back to lighten up the mood. I thank him mentally for it.

“Since Yuri just arrived here on earth, why don’t we show him around?”

“Oh, that sounds like a great idea!” I clap my hands together. “What do you think, Yuri? Do you want to take a little tour around Hasetsu?”

“Hmm…I don’t know…” Yuri mumbles quietly as he props his chin up against his knees.

“You should really give it a try, Yuri!” Viktor beams. “Yuuri showed me around the day after he found me and it was really great!”

Yuri’s head perks up at Viktor’s suggestion and his eyes brighten when he finally turns to look at Viktor.

“Well…” He begins, a faint blush forming on his cheeks as he says so. “I guess a little tour wouldn’t sound so bad…”

“Great!” Viktor gives his brother a little squeeze before getting up and dusting the legs of his pants. “I’m sure you’ll enjoy it just as much as I have! Yuuri is a very gracious host, after all!”

“I’m not your host, anymore, remember?” I let out a chuckle when Viktor turns to wrap an arm around my waist.

“Right, I’m your lover now.” Viktor lets out a soft laugh as his lips turn into that heart-shaped smile of his.

From the corner of my eye, I can see Yuri’s expression change.

“What do you think about going out after lunch, then?” When I ask Yuri, he gets up from his crouch and finally turns to look at me directly.

“Sure, that sounds alright,” he mutters out briefly before quickly breaking his gaze away from mine.  
“I could probably use the sight-seeing anyway.”

After the morning chores are finished, we eat lunch first and feed the animals before heading out for a day of sight-seeing.

“Are you sure you want to sit in the back, Yuri?” I ask him as he climbs in the back with Makkachin.

“Yeah, I’m alright.” He nods, but there was no hiding that disappointed on his face after knowing that only two people can fit in the front.

The trip to town only takes a short ride but I can understand the disappointment on his face at not being able to sit with Viktor especially after seeing each other again for so long.

It makes me feel a little sad for him, somehow.

I smile faintly at him as I watch him run his fingers against Makkachin’s fur as the puppy gets comfortable on his lap.

“Hey, Viktor.” When I call his name out, he sticks his head out of the window.

“Yes, Yuuri?”

“Is it alright if you sit in the back?”

Yuri immediately brightens up at the mention and the moody look in his eyes is replaced with that of subdued delight as his cheeks start glowing pink.

“Sure.” Viktor hops out of the front and walks towards the back. “But what for?”

I glance at Yurio and curl my lips into a smile before turning to Viktor.

“I could use some extra space in the front sometime,” I say in jest. Before he can pout, I wink at him and he immediately nods at me in understanding.

“If you say so, Mr. Katsuki.” Viktor immediately climbs up the back and then seats himself beside his younger brother.

If Yuri’s demeanor changes the moment Viktor sits beside him, he doesn’t comment on it.

“Be careful during the ride, you two!” I give them a wave before walking back to the driver’s seat.

“The road can get really bumpy!”

“I assure you, the backseat passengers are in good, capable hands, Mr. Katsuki,” Viktor brags as he gives his chest a pat.

“Well, if you say so.” I chuckle and then climb into the driver’s seat to start the engine.

Throughout the drive to town, I watch Yuri lean himself over the ledge looking around the scenery while Viktor presumes the role of a tour guide, making commentaries on whatever that catches his eye through the rear-view mirror.

Without me to make him uncomfortable, Yuri seems carefree and relaxed around Viktor, it’s as if what happened last night is ancient history now.

Come to think of it, despite the outburst Yuri had the other night, Viktor doesn’t seem to be mad or disappointed at him.

It’s as if all they had was a meaningless little quarrel that quickly passed with some good night’s sleep.

It’s either Viktor is just naturally very calm and patient despite the situation or he’s just come to set the matter aside to spend time with the brother who he hasn’t seen in so long.

But then again, I know very little about Yuri and Viktor’s relationship apart from the fact that they’re brothers.

Still just another facet of Viktor’s life that I’ve yet to know more about.

And yet a part I’m still yearning to learn about, nevertheless.

“Yuri, look!” I see Viktor crane his head down as he points at something he sees on the road.

Yuri follows his gaze and gasps in amusement.

“What’s that?!”

“That’s called a raccoon!” He answers enthusiastically as his eyes follow its movement.

“Its face looks like it’s been beat up,” Yuri comments with a laugh as we drive past the said animal.

“Hey, it’s not the raccoon’s fault for looking like that!” Viktor says as he smacks Yuri playfully on the side. “It was just born that way!”

When Makkachin yips in agreement, I can feel myself chuckling to myself in the driver’s seat.

In similar Viktor fashion, Yuri proceeds to gawk at everything he sees as we drive by, with Viktor explaining to him whatever it is that catches his interest.

I can’t help but be reminded of that time I first took Viktor on a ride around town. Seeing how Yuri reacts the same way Viktor did when he first came to earth only speaks volumes about their closeness.

From the rear-view mirror, I see Viktor waving and greeting the residents, who are all too eager to greet him back with a smile.

Ever since I started taking Viktor with me to make deliveries around town, Viktor has become talk of the town until such time he’s become a popular resident in Hasetsu.

“So, where do you guys want to go?” I stick my head out of the window so they can hear me properly.

“Yuuri, let’s go to AmaAma!” Viktor says enthusiastically. “We can finally use that coupon Yuuko gave!”

“Alright!” I put my head back inside before as I make a turn to the road leading to AmaAma.

After a while, I park the car in front of the café and proceed to hop off the car, with everyone else following suit.

As we enter, Yuri looks around the café with Makkachin trotting behind him.

There’s an obvious ‘No pets allowed’ sign posted outside, but no one says a word.

Ever since Viktor got popular, he’s been allowed to get away with doing things. Not to mention that he practically charmed the owner of the café to let Makkachin in with us when it was raining one day.

Beautiful people surely have it easy. 

“What’s this place?” He asks as he watches the pink-clad waitresses shuffle about bringing orders towards the customers.

“It’s called a café!” Viktor explains as walk towards our usual seat by the window. Ever since I took Viktor to this place, we’ve only become its loyal customers as he’d keep on insisting that we go there whenever the pay after a delivery is good.

“Yuuri took me to this place when I first got here!”

“Hm, I see.”

Viktor sits beside me while Yuri takes a seat across us before Makkachin hops up beside him to nose at the menu on the table.

Yuri picks up the menu card from the table and squints at it as he tries to comprehend the writing.

I can’t help but chuckle as I recall that time wherein Viktor would struggle to understand anything written before I taught him how to read.

After seeing progress from our lessons, Viktor is perfectly fluent in reading and writing both in English and Japanese. Well, he still has problems reading and writing in kanji though.

“What?” Yuri looks up from the menu card and raises an eyebrow at me.

“Let me help you with that.” I take the menu card from his hands to read out the menu to him. From the corner of my eye, I can see Viktor smile at me faintly.

“Let’s see…” I adjust my glasses before looking over the menu items on the card. “There’s cake, milk tea, parfaits, coffee and sorbets.”

“I don’t know what the hell those are,” Yuri scoffs before taking the menu card from me. If only for a moment, I can feel my ego deflate slightly before I brush off the feeling. 

“I’ll just have whatever looks pretty.”

“Alright,” I respond with a smile. “It’s my treat, after all.”

Yuri blushes visibly and abruptly covers the look on his face with the menu card.

“Yeah…thanks, I guess…”

I can’t help but feel a sense of triumph wash over me just with that little thanks.

Beside me, Viktor chuckles a little.

He slumps over the table and glues his eyes to the pictures on the menu card in an attempt to regain his bearings.

“My, if it isn’t you guys again!” A pink-clad waitress says cheerfully as she approaches our table with a tiny clipboard in hand.

“Ah, good afternoon, Sumire-san,” I greet her with a little smile and a nod.

“Hi, Sumire!” When Viktor waves at her, her cheeks turn as pink as her dress as she practically beams back at him.

Sumire was the waitress who gave her number to Viktor that time when I first took him here. After learning that Viktor wasn’t interested, we’d often see her avoiding us whenever we came by for our dessert fix. That was, until Viktor decided to make her feel better by becoming friends with her.

She most likely still has feelings for Viktor especially with the way he acts around him and admittedly, I can’t help but feel somewhat possessive when she’s around.

Just somewhat.

And now, ever since then, she’s been the waitress who’d always serve us our food and make small talk with us. (And also give us discounts and free stuff that would most likely get her fired if the owner knew.)

“Good afternoon, Viktor-san, Katsuki-san, Makkachin!”

 Makkachin boofs happily as she greets us back with a polite bow before turning her eyes towards Yuri, who is still slumped up against the table with Makkachin leaning against him.

“And I see you’ve got a new friend here with you?”

Yuri’s green eyes peek out from the menu card before hesitantly putting the card down to reveal his face.

“Hello, nice to meet you!” She gives him a happy little bow. “My name is Sumire! And you are?”

“Yuri,” he mumbles out quietly.

“Ah, so you have the same name as Katsuki-san!” she giggles girlishly behind her hand.

“Anyway, what would you like for today?” She takes a pen out from her pocket and presses the nib of it against the clipboard.

“Ah, we’d like to redeem this coupon, please.” I take out said coupon from my wallet before handing it to her.

“Ah, the special extra large parfait, isn’t it?” She pins the coupon against the clamp on her clipboard.

“I’ll have it for you in no time! Is there anything else you’d like to order?”

“I’d like…this thing, please…” Yuri points at a green cake on the menu card. Probably their new limited-edition matcha cake.

“Certainly!” She writes down the order on her clipboard. “Will that be all?”

“Three glasses of mango shake too, please!” Viktor adds.

“Alright, your order will be ready in a minute. Please wait a little while.” She excuses herself with a little bow before heading to the counter to give our order to the person in charge.

After a few minutes of waiting, Sumire arrives with two trays in both hands before setting the orders carefully on the table and Viktor practically drools at the sight as he clutches at his spoon tightly.

“Thank you for waiting! Here is your special extra large parfait, a matcha cake and three glasses of iced tea. Enjoy your food!” She gives a little bow again before heading off to serve another customer.

The parfait stands in the middle of a table, a gigantic centerpiece of ice cream, fruits and cream. Just looking at it makes my brain freeze and my blood sugar rise.

Leave it to Yuuko to make me all pudgy again.

“Holy shit, that thing is massive,” Yuri comments as he looks upon the majestic visage of the ice cream monstrosity. "How the hell are you going to finish all that?”

“I’m not going to eat it, we all are,” Viktor declares as he sticks his spoon into the ice cream and takes a scoop to take into his mouth.

“What?! How am I supposed to have the stomach to finish all that?” He stabs his fork into his cake before take a tentative bite out of it and scrunching his nose in disgust.  
“This tastes like grass.”

I let out a chuckle before I take a scoop from the parfait.

After we finish eating our fill of parfait, we head out of the café with our heads aching and our teeth feeling as if they’ll break at the slightest touch. That parfait was bigger than my head and now my brain feels like it’s been submerged in liquid nitrogen.

“Where do you want to go next?” I stick my head out of the window as I knead my temple with the pads of my fingers.

In the back of the truck, Yuri groans with his head in his hands as Viktor takes the barely-eaten matcha cake from a styrofoam clamshell to eat it.

“Let’s go to the movies!” He says with a mouthful of cake in his mouth.

When Makkachin noses at the cake, he happily breaks off a piece for her to eat. Well, at least it’s not chocolate this time.

“Hmm…let’s see…” I take my wallet out from my pocket and skim my fingers through the bills. Well, if I run out of money today, I could always use my credit card. “Alright, to the movies it is then!”

 

Before we could enter the theater, we had to leave Makkachin outside with the guard. Viktor tried to work his charms on him into letting her in, but it seems that there also exists people that are immune to charm.

The back row is dark, with only the light of the projector overhead and the glow of the big screen illuminating our figures as take a seat in the back-most row of the theater.

As the three of us take a seat, Viktor passes the popcorn bucket along as the opening credits of the movie start rolling. The music is soft and vivid as the first few minutes of the movie roll by, not unlike the horror movies I’m so fond of watching.

The moment we entered the ticketing booth, Viktor insisted on watching a romantic comedy just as I had my eye on an interesting horror movie poster in the lounge.

The last time we watched something scary, Viktor couldn’t get a good night’s sleep for a week and I had to wake up in the middle of the night just to soothe from his recurring nightmares of sentient possessed dolls and human centipedes.

“What’s this place?” Yuri fishes out a handful of buttered popcorn from the bucket before stuffing them into his mouth. He lets out a content hum as he takes another handful.

“That screen really looks a lot like the communication screens back home.”

“I know, right!” Viktor leans across his seat to take some popcorn from Yuri. “The first time I got here on earth, I really noticed just how much they have in common with us!”

“Well…” Yuri takes a short glance at me. “Humans do look a lot like us.”

“Right?” Viktor chuckles. “I saw in this show once wherein they theorized that an advanced race of aliens created humans and who knows? Maybe the aliens also put other living beings like them on other planets?”

“Wow.”

“Alright, enough with the conspiracy theories, Viktor,” I let out a chuckle.

Ever since he learned how to use the computer, Viktor would google episodes of Ancient Aliens and find himself glued to the screen for hours on end. It’s kind of funny, an actual alien watching a show about aliens.

“Let’s just watch the movie, alright?” I shush them both and Viktor gives me a quiet nod. “If you want to talk, just keep your voices down.”

 

An hour and forty-five minutes into the movie, I struggle to keep my voice down as Viktor starts kissing my neck, his mood apparently spurred on by the sex scene in the movie.

“V-Viktor, wait…” I breathe out as quietly as I can as he tugs my scarf down with his teeth to bare more skin in the darkness of the theater. “Somebody might see us…”

“Then let them,” he whispers softly in my ear before he grabs my face and starts kissing me senseless before I can say anything else.

I shut my eyes as the music from the movie flows through my ears

His lips muffle my moans as his hand slips underneath my sweater while his tongue slips into my mouth.

“Hey, I’m back with the popcorn—“

I immediately pull away from Viktor with a pop and when I open my eyes, the look on Yuri’s face is absolutely petrified.

The newly-bought popcorn lies scattered on the floor.

 

Throughout the ride to the beach, Yuri sits in the back with Makkachin, claiming that he didn’t want to be around ‘two gross adults’.

“Viktor, why did you have to do that?” I scold him, my face burning from that encounter as I keep my grip on the steering while tight.

“I wouldn’t have minded at all if you just waited until we get home!”

“Oh.” A mischievous smirk begins to creep up Viktor’s face. “So you wouldn’t mind if we continue where we left off later?”

The blush on my face only grows even redder.

“I wouldn’t have.” I abruptly turn my eyes from him as I make a turn on the road. “But I don’t feel like it anymore.”

Viktor does that pouting face again and lets out a pretend whine.

It won’t work on me anymore. My resolve is as hard as steel.

“Hey, I can hear you two all the way from here, you know!” Yuri shouts from the back as he kicks at the back of the car.

Even though I can feel my embarrassment grow even further, I can’t help but let out a snort.

 

After I park in front of the beach, Yuri excitedly hops out of the car and onto the sand with Makkachin.

He looks down at his feet as he kicks at the sand before shape-shifting himself barefoot.

The look in Yuri’s eyes is awestruck as he watches his own toes wriggle against the sand.

“Isn’t it cool, Yuri?” Viktor plops on the sand and shape-shifts his shoes off his feet before burying his feet in it.

 I sit beside him on the ground and take my shoes off to feel the sand against my bare feet.

“The sand here is white! Did you know that in other places, the sand can be also black or pink too?”

“Really?” Yuri turns his head to look at us with the look of a child whose curiosity has grown even more. “The ocean here is blue too!” He points at the rolling waves ahead.

In the sky, the sun begins its slow descent to the horizon as its light dye the water with slivers of gold.

“I know right!” Viktor chuckles as he puts his arm around me. “When Yuuri first showed the ocean to me, I was really amazed at just how much the earth has to offer!”

“Not to mention, you started a splash war with me too.” I nudge him at the side as I let out a little laugh.

“Right, I remember that.” When Viktor laughs, it’s as if an entire chorus of angels have descended from the heavens.

Then, Yuri grows still and his expression falters as he locks his eyes against a tiny crab that burrows itself out from the sand.

“Is earth…really this great?” Somehow, the tone in his voice now is quiet and somber, contemplative, almost.

“Of course.” The corners of Viktor’s lips turn into a faint, yet tight-lipped smile. The look in his eyes again is clouded with that all-too-familiar sadness.

I wrap my arm tightly around him so I can pull him closer towards me.

The sea breeze is cold and chilly as it bites against my cheeks.

“Is this….is this why you left Adamanta?”

“Yes.” His voice is barely a whisper when he answers. “It’s hard to call a place a home when it’s taken so much from you already.”

Yuri worries his lower lip between his teeth, his chest heaving as he turns to look at us.

“But earth gave you so much now, didn’t it?”

“It did.” When Viktor turns to look at me, the sadness in his eyes is replaced with something like love.

“I found love, I found myself, and I found that I can actually _live_ again.”

When his eyes start to water, I can’t help but feel mine do the same as the impact of his words hit me full-on like a blow that seems gentle yet powerful all at the same time.

I smile, wrapping both of my arms around him as I press my face to his heart, moving and beating and alive.

“Before I even got here, I’ve heard so many stories about earth,” Viktor continues. “Never would I have thought that I’d actually get to live in those stories.”

I can feel the weight of his hand against my head, his fingers threading gently through my wind-tousled hair.

“At first, I thought that this planet would be nothing but just another refuge for a fugitive like me, but…”

When his hold around me grows tighter, I can feel his warmth press against mine.

“Earth is home to me now. And if you let it, it can set you free too.”

When I look at Yuri, his shoulders are shaking. His head is bowed down, his eyes shut tightly as if resisting the oncoming surge of tears.

When he sucks in his breath through his teeth, he wipes his face as tears begin to brim the corners of his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he says softly as he takes slow, tentative steps toward us. “I’m sorry if I acted really rude last night.”

“Oh, Yuri.” Viktor gets up and wraps his arms around his brother in a tight embrace.

“I just wanted to bring you back home, but…” Yuri pauses in his sentence as his arms come around Viktor’s back.

“But then I realized, this _is_ your home now.

As I watch the heart-warming reunion unfold right before me, I can’t help but smile.

“I just…” Yuri purses his lips tightly before continuing, the green of his eyes glazed and blurred with tears. “I just missed you so much.”

“I missed you too, Yuri.” Viktor shuts his eyes tightly as his voice begins to falter.

“I shouldn’t have left you all alone.”

Yuri only shakes his head as his hold around his brother only grows tighter.

“What matters is that we’re together again.”

Viktor stills for a moment before the creases in his expression smoothens out.

“You’re right.”

When Yuri looks up, his eyes lock against mine and his lips form into a faint smile.

It’s more than words can ever say.

When Yuri shrugs himself off of the hug, his arms are wide open in invitation despite the heavy blush settling on his cheeks.

When my heart practically surges with joy, I get up and wrap my arms around him in an embrace.

“Thank you.” His voice is barely a whisper. “For showing me just how beautiful this place is.”

Seeing someone that means so much to Viktor all happy…it really means a lot to me.

Despite the fact that I barely even know him at all, that I’ve known him just yesterday, I can’t help but feel the need to nurture and protect him and give him back what’s been taken from him.

He reminds me a lot of Viktor.

Someone as young as him…shouldn’t be hurting like this.

But he is.

My heart and my eyes grow heavy as I grieve at the loss of what this child has lost, at what he could have been if only the world was kind enough not to take so much from him.

For someone as young as him, he’s experienced so much things that no child should ever see in their life.

“Yuri…” I try to keep my hands steady as I stroke his hair. I expect him to flinch away, but he doesn’t.

“I’m so happy,” Viktor says with a sniffle as he walks towards us.

His eyes are red and swollen with tears and yet his smile is bright and happy.

“The two most important people in my life getting along.”

“I couldn’t be any happier.” Viktor wraps his arms around us and brings us closer for a tight group hug.

“Viktor!” I laugh despite the tears as we find ourselves smooshed up against one another.

My both sides of my cheeks are practically pressed up against Yuri’s and Viktor’s.

“Old man, your breath smells bad!” Yuri yells out with a laugh.

“You wound me,” Viktor fakes a sniffle as he only tightens the hug even further to rib-crushing proportions.

“Viktor, you’re crushing our spines!” I manage to choke out as I feel the all the air in my lungs leaving my body.

Viktor gives an innocent-sounding ‘oops’ before getting his arms off of us and freeing us of his octopus-like grip.

“So, Yuri, what will it be?” Viktors places both of his arms around our shoulders instead.

“Do you want to stay with us?”

“Well...!” Yuri’s eyes widen as his cheeks only glow a bright red. He contemplates the thought for a bit and then clears his throat.

“Well…I guess it wouldn’t be so bad to live with you guys…” His lips practically twitches as he fails at his attempt at hiding his smile.

“Wonderful!” Viktor’s lips curl into that heart-shaped smile of his before he turns towards me.

“And the verdict, Yuuri?”

“I would love to have one more person around!” I chuckle.

Having one more person around the house would make it cramped but merrier nevertheless.

Two aliens, a dog and a regular human all living under one roof. Who would have thought?

“I’m so happy!” Viktor draws the both of us close towards him, effectively knocking the air out of our lungs once again.

Although breathless, I can’t help but laugh as a warm feeling settles pleasantly in my chest.

Throughout this short span of time, I’ve been given another opportunity to change someone else’s life.

And that person just happens to be a part of the man I’ve come to love.

My mind begins conjuring up different possibilities for what the future may hold for us.

There’s no telling whether all of them would be good, and yet….

I couldn’t be any happier.

 

* * *

 

 

After spending some time at the beach, we go home once it gets dark and then have katsudon for dinner. Yuri apparently finds himself loving the taste of it and constantly asks for refills every time he empties his bowl.

After everyone’s stomachs are full, we watch some shows on the television before heading to sleep.

“Are you alright with sleeping on the floor, Yuri?” I smile at him as he tucks himself underneath the futon. He’s going to be sleeping here for the time before we convert the storage room into his room tomorrow.

First, living with Viktor, then Makkachin and now, Yuri…it just all feels so surreal.

“Yeah, it’s alright.” He fluffs up his pillow before lying his head down upon it. And then he points an accusing finger at me and Viktor. “Just don’t do anything weird while I’m asleep, you got it?”

“Whatever could you mean, Yuri?” Viktor asks with feigned innocence as he wraps an arm around me from behind.

“You know what I mean, baldy.” Before Viktor could even gasp in horror, Yuri rolls his eyes and pulls the comforter over his head.

“I give you a roof over your head and you treat me like this.” Viktor dramatically wipes a nonexistent tear from his eye.

“Oh, Viktor, I’ll still love you even if you lose all of your hair,” I chuckle before giving him a soft kiss to the top of his head.

I hear a gagging sound from across the room.

“Adults are fucking gross.”

“Language, Yuri,” Viktor scolds as he quickly recovers from his dramatic performance.

Yuri only scoffs and shifts on the bed before going completely silent.

I lie down on the bed and draw the covers over me and Viktor as he shuffles himself closer towards me.

“Great day, don’t you think?” Viktor’s smile is sweet as the moonlight filters through the window and illuminates his silvery hair with a ghostly blue glow.

“Yeah.” I smile back at him as I turn myself to face him.

When I press my palm against his cheek, his skin glows that ethereal blue glow.

“Are you happy?” I whisper softly as I gently brush his fringe away from his eyes.

“Happier than I could ever be.” He takes my hand and presses his sweet smile tenderly against my knuckles.

When he pulls away, his lips have that blue tinge to them before quickly regressing back beneath his skin.

“I’m glad.”

When he closes his eyes, I wrap my arms tightly around him and he happily slots his head against the crook of my neck.

“Good night, Viktor,” I say before pressing a kiss against his head. “I love you.”

“Good night, Yuuri.” I can feel him smile against my neck before he gives it a little peck.

“I love you too. So much.”

“Ugh,” Yuri groans as he pulls the comforter down his head. “Go to sleep, you sappy old fools.”

“Alright, alright,” I chuckle softly as I give Viktor’s head a little pat. “Good night to you too, Yuri.”

“Yeah, whatever,” he scoffs as he blushes a little.

“Good night, I guess.” He pulls the covers over himself again as Makkachin takes her place beside him like a guard dog.

As I close my eyes and wait for sleep to claim me, I can’t help the smile that forms on my lips.

Two adults, a teen and a dog all living together under one roof.

_We look like a family._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> woohoo we're one chapter away! :D  
> next week is going to be the last chapter for this fic and i'll be posting the funny little drabble that started this all!
> 
> please look forward to it! :D
> 
> Follow me on twitter [@chattoyant_zee](https://twitter.com/chattoyant_zee)


	9. Chapter 9

“So, who is this Minami guy, anyway?” Yuri, or Yurio, as Mari-neesan nicknamed him, asks as he sips at a cup of miso soup in nothing but the inn robes as he sits in front of the television.

After finding out that I’d taken in one more person into the farm house, my parents insisted that I come visit the inn to introduce Yurio to the family. And as with every person I bring to the inn, my parents wouldn’t stop fawning over Yurio just like they did every time I bring Viktor over.

“Oh, I used to compete with him back when I still used to skate,” I look at the television, the commentator announcing Minami’s turn to exhibit his free skate.

“Used to? What about now—“

“Shh!” I cut him off with a shush and he immediately stops midway in his sentence. “It’s starting!”

The music echoes out from the speakers as Minami moves from his starting position to glide into a smooth curve across the ice, his movements breath-taking. Just hearing the sound of skate blades swish against the surface of the ice makes it feel like I’m in the rink itself, the cold air biting against my cheeks and dance without a care in the world.

Two months after I saw him in Seung-gil’s bakery, he had made an amazing recovery from his knee injury. He’d long since left Hasetsu to step on his home rink unfazed as if nothing happened to him at all.

Seeing Minami skate freely in the television, it fills my heart with pride and a sense of sadness at the same time.

“You alright, Yuuri?” Viktor wraps an arm around my waist as he notices me blanking out in front of the television, my eyes captivated yet wanting at the same time.

“Yeah.” I smile at him to show that I am. “It’s just…” I breathe out as I look at the screen, Minami’s twirling form blurring as he exits his triple axel cleanly. “I just wish I could skate again.”

“Oh, but you already have, Yuuri,” Viktor chuckles as he only pulls me closer. I raise an eyebrow at him in question.

“You’ve skated all the way into my heart already.”

Yurio makes a noise between retching and gagging.

“Ugh, you two are gross. So disgustingly in love.”

Viktor only erupts into laughter as he only holds me tighter and gives me a kiss on the cheek just to spite Yurio. Yurio scoffs and walks out of the dining area where he can escape from our quote on quote disgusting display of affection.

I blush and chuckle in return as I return the kiss on his lips.

“Ah, Yuuri are you watching skating?” my mother says as she collects the emptied plates and bowls from the table. “Reminds me a lot of the time when Minako-senpai would gather the neighbors around just to see you skate on TV,” she chuckles fondly.

“You should have seen him, Vicchan. Yuuri looked amazing,” she says fondly as she places the plates and bowls on a plastic cart. I blush a little at my mother’s praise.

“And he still does,” Viktor quips with a wink.

“My, my!” My mother lets out a bright laughter. “Ever the charming one aren’t you, Vicchan?”

“Yuuri’s so lucky to have someone as handsome and charming as you!” When she reaches out to ruffle Viktor’s hair, he practically bathes in the praise.

“I’m even luckier to find someone as beautiful and kind as Yuuri.” Viktor wraps both of his arms around me tightly to give me a quick peck on the lips. Needless to say, I turn pinker than I already have.

How did I even manage to have someone as silly (and unbelievably lovable) as Viktor, anyway? Thinking back on it, it really seems like an impossible feat for me to finally be with someone who’s equal parts sappy and loving.

“I’m so glad to finally see Yuuri happy with someone!” My mother gives me cheek a soft pat.

“Invite us over when you decide to get married!” My father calls out from behind the counter he’s wiping.

“O-Okaa-san, otou-san!” I grow flustered as Viktor only grows even giddier beside me. “W-We haven’t decided on anything like that yet! It’s too son!”

“Oh, Yuuri,” Minako starts before taking in a sip of beer from the corner of the room. “Don’t you think it’s about time you settled down?” She chuckles. “Besides, who wouldn’t want to spend the rest of their life with a hottie like that?”

“Thank you!” Viktor accepts the hottie compliment with that same ease and charm. “I really appreciate the sentiment, but Yuuri and I agreed to take it slow and know each other more a little bit better.”

His fingers thread around mine before he brings my hand up to his lips to leave a kiss on my knuckles.

“Right, Yuuri?”

“Right.” When I smile back at him, the love in my heart just overflows.

“Oh, this is all so touching,” my sister comments from the other side of the room while serving drinks to a patrons. “To think that my little brother is all grown up.”

My father chuckles. “Well then, Yuuri, just take everything slow and easy and we’ll meet you halfway.”

“Thank you, otou-san.”

“Thank you so much for taking care of Yuuri, Vicchan!” My mother giggles happily as she gives Viktor’s cheek a little pat. “We’ve never seen him this happy before you came!”

I guess she’s right. Before I even met Viktor, everything was mundane and monotonous. Just like Viktor once said, alive but not truly living. But now, here he is, right by my side for each other to hold on to.

“I’ve never been this happy until I met Yuuri, too, mama,” Viktor practically beams as he nuzzles his cheek against mine, his scent lingering faintly in my nose. My heart practically melts both at his show of affection and the sense of familiarity he has with the important people in my life.

“Mama, papa,” Viktor turns his head to give a glance at both. “Thank you so much for bringing Yuuri into this world.”

My mother’s eyes brim with tears before throwing her arms around us tightly. My father laughs as he slips out from behind the counter to join in.

“Oh, Vicchan, you’re just the sweetest thing ever!” My mother squeezes the both of us together just as my father does.

“What a good guy!” My father laughs as he ruffles mine and Viktor’s hair playfully. “I’m sure you and Yuuri will live out a happy life together!”

“Make sure you invite us for the wedding, alright?” My sister blurts out with a laugh, which is followed by chuckling among the patrons.

“I can’t believe it,” Minako lets out a sniffle from her seat as her head perks up from its drunken perch on her hand. “Yuuri, finally happy with someone he loves. I couldn’t ask for anything better.”

Our merry laughter echoes out against the four corners of the room as my heart only swells with love for the people who’ve done so much to shape my life.

After the live skating tournament has finished airing, Viktor and I head back to my old room to re-watch Minami’s free skate live. I’m sure I missed out a lot on his performance when it aired live Yurio is in his own room, insisting that he didn’t want to be around two sappy grown men.

When Minami’s performance ends, my hands come together to clap before sending him a congratulations text to his number. Not less than one minute before I sent the text, Minami erupts into an explosion of exclamation points and emojis. The next time we see each other, I really ought to give him something to congratulate him. Knowing Minami, even the smallest things seem to really cheer him up like the ball of sunshine he is.

When it’s well and late into the night, Viktor and I squeeze ourselves together on my tiny bed, limbs tangled up against one another as he runs his fingers through my hair, his touches light and gentle against my scalp.

“It makes me so happy to know that I’ve become a part of your life, Yuuri.” His smile is faint and sweet as the blue of his eyes glow against the cold moonlight filtering through the window. At our feet, Makkachin lies snuggled up comfortably against my bunched-up jacket.

It’s a winter night in January now, and Viktor and I have been living together for four months already.

“Seeing all the people that helped you become who you are right now…” As he takes my hand, his skin glows like the moonlight. “I’m truly grateful for them.”

When his lips press against the back of my hand, my heart does a quadruple flip inside my chest.

When I smile at him, his eyes practically sparkle like the gems they are as I wrap my arms around him for a tight, warm embrace.

Words can’t describe just how happy I am to be right here with someone I love.

When I climb on top of Viktor, Makkachin hops off the bed and skitters off to the corner of the room. What a smart dog. She probably knows what’s going down.

I cup both sides of Viktor’s face, my fingers caressing the smooth contours of his cheeks as I press my forehead against his.

The look in his eyes is mellow and content, and the smile on his lips is faint yet sweet.

“I love you so much, Viktor,” I whisper against his mouth as I lean in to press a kiss against his lips. Meeting Viktor, and knowing I’ve had such an impact on his life just as much as he does mine…it makes me feel more alive than I’ve ever been in the past twenty-six years of my life.

Needing someone, and being needed back.

Viktor gives me a sense of fulfillment that not even skating has given me.

“More than anything else in the world.”

When he wraps his arms around my neck, he brings me closer again to reciprocate the gesture.

His kisses are languid, passionate and unhurried as his hands move down from my neck to roam against my back as he pushes my robe off my shoulders to reveal bare skin.

“Yuuri…” he whispers against the kiss once he shortly parts his lips away. His hand comes up to rest against my cheek, the weight of it a warm and steady reminder grounding me to the reality that is now.

“You’re so beautiful…” His eyes brim with more love than I think myself deserving of.

“I love you so much.” When the look in his eyes bear a look so tender for me to deserve, my heart seizes up in my chest. “You’ve touched so much more lives than you can imagine.”

“Especially mine.” The corners of his lips tug up into a smile before pulling me close again to close the gap separating us.

Just knowing that even my humble existence gives meaning to someone I love the most…it gives me a sense of empowerment nothing else can give.

Before Viktor, my life was small, meaningless and insignificant in the face of the vast, unforgiving universe.

Now, I feel bigger than I’ve ever been.

When his lips press lovingly against mine, I practically melt underneath his touch.

* * *

 

After making our delivery to Seung-gil’s place, Yurio and I head home to continue work for the day.

Viktor is wanted to come along but since he’s sick I told him to stay put with Makkachin at home.

 I would have been alright with doing the deliveries by myself but Yurio decided to cover for Viktor and lend me a helping hand, which I appreciate.

As I keep my hands on the wheel and drive home, I glance to my left and spot Yurio looking out of the window with a curious look on his face. Outside, school girls chat happily among one another as they make their way towards school, their laughter trailing behind them as they walk by.

“Hey, Yuuri, why are they dressed the same?” Yurio asks as his gaze follows the girls.

“Oh, they’re going to school,” I reply. “Since winter break is over, students are heading back to school to continue their studies.”

Yurio hums thoughtfully before the look in his green eyes morph into that of pensive silence, as if recalling something from his past. Now that I think about it, Yurio looks about the same age as those girls earlier. Could it be that he quit school after he was enlisted in the war?  
Just the thought of someone as young as him being subjected to the horrors of war…it’s heartbreaking.

Children should be enjoying life as it is and learning more about the world instead of coming eye to eye with the ugly realities that no child should ever face.

“Yurio.” When I call out his name, he suddenly breaks out of his quiet trance as his head turns to look at me.

“Yeah?”

“Do you want to go to school?”

His eyes immediately balloon to the size of saucers as his cheeks glow red with the strength of the sun. If tears start brimming at the corners of his eyes, I don’t comment on it.

“Well?” My smile is bright and warm upon seeing the reaction on his face.

Of course, I’d have to teach him so he can pass the entrance exams and that is a large feat in itself considering that I had a lot of trouble studying myself back when I was in school due to dealing with skating and my studies at the same time, and all that.

But now that I’ve managed to teach both Viktor and Yurio how to read and write in a relatively short span of time, I’m confident enough in my skills to help him understand the basics.

I’m confident in Yurio’s abilities, too. He even managed to write both in Japanese and English quicker than Viktor did. I think it’s about time to put his abilities to use in school so he can finally grasp the chance he didn’t get in Adamanta to maximize his own potential. If given the right starting point, I think Yurio can accomplish great things in his life.

I want to do that for him.

“Can I?” The look in his eyes is that of disbelief. It’s as if he can’t believe what he’s hearing right now.

“Of course!” I chuckle as I reach out to ruffle his hair, which he surprisingly doesn’t grumble at like he’d usually do. “I think it’s important for you to learn more things about the world, don’t you think?”

“R-Really?” His eyes widen even more as the beginnings of a smile begin creeping up his face. “It’s been such a long time since I’ve gone to school though, so I don’t know how I’d do!”

When his voice practically brims with excitement, my heart only swells with joy.

“Don’t worry, I’ll help you study up!” I make a turn to the right. I might as well start by buying him books to study with before heading straight back home. “Besides, I think you’re a fast learner after all.”

“T-Thanks, I guess…” Yurio mumbles as his eyes avert mine. His face is even redder than before.

I chuckle and give his head one final pat before returning my hand to the steering wheel.

“It’s my pleasure, Yurio.”

“Um…why are you doing this all of a sudden?” Yurio’s voice is barely a whisper now as his eyes peek hesitantly behind his eyelashes.

“I just think you deserve to have something like this, is all.” I smile at him faintly.

 Ever since Yurio has come to live with us, I’ve only grown fond of him and started caring about him even more. He might be a bit brash at times, but I’ve just come to realize that it’s how he shows his affection according to Viktor.

“I see…” His faint smile alone tells me more than words ever could.

 

Helping Yurio prepare for the entrance exams was one thing but preparing his documents so I can actually enroll him into school was another thing entirely. For one, he’s not even a citizen of Japan or of earth, for that matter. And for that, let’s just say I enlisted the help of some shady people who may or may not be doing illegal activities in order to forge official documents. I managed to pay a hefty sum as agreed and once I received the documents, I can’t help but be amazed at just how real they look like.

On the papers, Viktor and I are registered as Yurio’s legal guardians. Not only that, but I had them also fake an adoption certificate to show that I adopted Yurio from an orphanage in Russia. I did the same for Viktor too. I also had them fake a birth certificate and a citizenship certificate for him.

Thankfully, no one questioned the documents when I did enroll Yurio into the local public school that I studied in when I was in high school.

Seeing him in his uniform for the first time honestly makes me feel like a proud parent happy to see their child grow up. Viktor couldn’t help himself but tear up in front of the gate after we drive Yurio to school.

“I’m so proud…” Viktor wipes a stray tear from his eye as he lets out a dramatic sniffle. “Yurio, finally all grown up!”

“Either that, or you’re just getting older,” Yurio says in jest as he chuckles, which earns a gasp from Viktor.

“How could you!” Viktor continues on with his display of dramatics as he clings on to me and wipes his eyes against my scarf. “After all I’ve done for you!”

When people start to complain about us blocking the entrance, I usher Viktor to the side.

Yurio only rolls his eyes before breaking out into laughter. Viktor lets out a snort and ends up breaking out into laughter himself.

“Anyway, Yurio, are you sure you brought everything you need with you?” Suddenly, I feel like my doting mother on my first day of school. “Did you bring your lunch?”

“Yep.” Yurio takes his backpack off his back to inspect its contents before zipping it back up and putting it on. “I brought everything.”

“That’s good! If anything comes up, just call us using the phone, okay? Viktor and I will arrive as soon as you call for us!”

“Calm down, I can take care of myself, alright?” He chuckles.

“Alright, if you say so.” I return the smile to him as I wrap an arm around Viktor’s. “Have fun in school, alright?”

“Oh, I will.” He turns around to make his way through the gate.

“Take care, Yurio!” Viktor calls out as he waves his hand at him. “We love you!”

He immediately stops in his tracks and when turns around, his cheeks are a bright red.

“Yeah, I’ll see you guys later or something,” he mumbles softly before going on his way to join the other students.

“Aww, he loves us!” Viktor giggles to himself as we finish seeing him off.

 

We drive ourselves back home to work on the chores and tend to Makkachin. The last time we left her alone in the house for more than an hour, she managed to chew up the sofa.

“Thank you so much, Yuuri,” Viktor says as he fills the troughs with chicken feed while I tend to the cows.

“For what?” I let out a chuckle as I turn around to face him.

“For sending Yurio to school.” He puts the sack down on the floor as he pauses in his chores.  
“He’s really been through a lot since he got pulled into the war. He had to grow up so fast and miss out on things kids his age should be doing.”

“I know.” I let out a sigh. “When I thought about it, I realized that he at least deserves to live out teenage years to the fullest.”

“And knowing that he had to miss out on a lot of things just because he got involved into something caused by adults in the first place…” I pause for a bit as I rub at my arm. “It kind of breaks my heart.”

“Oh, Yuuri.” Viktor coos as he walks towards me and wraps his arms around me from behind, his face nuzzling against my hair. “You’re so kind. That’s why I love you so much.”

When he presses a kiss against my head, I can’t help the smile that forms on my face.

“I just…” I place my hands around his as I start swaying myself from side to side. “I just wanted to do what I thought was right, is all.”

“And you chose right.” He chuckles that soft, melodic chuckle as he buries his face against my hair.

“I’m glad you think so, Viktor,” I chuckle back at him. “Don’t you think it’s nice, though?”

My cheeks turn a faint shade of pink as I turn around to face him, my hands planted firmly against his chest.

“What is, Yuuri?” He leans down to press his forehead against mine as he places his hands on my waist and starts swaying with side to side with me.

“The two of us and Yurio and Makkachin living together…don’t you think we look like a family?”

“We already are one, Yuuri.” When Viktor curls the corners of those plush lips of his into a smile, he leans in to seal the gap between our faces with a kiss.

“I suppose we already are,” I chuckle softly as I return the gesture with a soft peck to his lips.

“But I just wonder, though…” I worry my lower lip between my teeth as I contemplate on what to say. The look on Viktor’s face now is that of subtle concern and curiosity.

“Is it what you’ve dreamed of?”

“Oh, Yuuri.” Viktor takes my hands in his and presses them to his lips to kiss them tenderly. The blue of his eyes are warm and tender and loving. “It’s more than I could ever dream of.”

For a moment, my breath stills as a warm heat creeps underneath my skin before spreading to my cheeks.

“Crash-landing beside the farm is the best thing that ever happened to me, Yuuri,” Viktor chuckles before pressing a kiss against my forehead. “I’m glad that I met you, Yuuri.”

“Me too, Viktor.” I smile back at him rather shyly as I give the tip of his nose a little boop.

 

After all we have our lunch and all the chores for the afternoon have been finished, Viktor and I drive to Yurio’s school to come pick him up at 3.

“Yurio’s not here yet…” Viktor mumbles as he looks out of the window, his handsome face distracting mesmerized passers-by to look his way. Viktor gasps as if he had a realization and then turns around to look at me. “Yuuri! What if something bad happened to him?”

“He’s fine, Viktor,” I wave the matter off. “He’s a grown kid, he’s probably just hanging around with his friends.”

“Says the one who wouldn’t stop calling Yurio during lunchtime,” Viktor grumbles.

“Hey! I was only making sure that he finished his lunch,” I fold my arms in front of my chest as if to make my point. “A growing boy like him needs his nutrients, after all!”

“You’re beginning to sound like a worried parent,” he snorts.

“Maybe I am.”

Viktor’s smile stretches from ear to ear in an almost comical way.

“What?” Just looking at him having a smile so big makes my face muscles cramp.

“Yuuri!” I can practically see sparkles and glitter in Viktor’s eyes. “Does this mean we’re parents?”

“Well…” My face begins to grow pink at the implication as I smile at him faintly. “If you put it that way, then I guess we are…?”

When Viktor screeches and throws his arms around me, he attracts the attention of a lot of passers-by who immediately turn their heads towards the source of the commotion.

“V-Viktor!” I push Viktor away from me before the people could even start whispering behind our backs. “We’re in public!”

“But you said that only inappropriate things should be done in private such as—“ I clap my hand over his mouth before he could even continue in that loud voice of his.

“I know, I know!” My face is burning with the strength of a thousand suns. After living with me for almost five month already, Viktor should at least know what’s inappropriate to say in public or not.

It’s either he does or he just wants to see me all flustered like the absolute sadist he is.

“Ah, Yuuri, Yurio is here!” Viktor immediately sticks his head out of the window once he spots Yurio walking out of the entrance with a student.

“Ah, Yuri-kun, is that your dad?” His classmate says, and Yurio’s eyes immediately balloon to the size of saucers.

“Yes, I’m Yurio’s dad! My name is Viktor!” Viktor sticks his hand out of the window to extend it towards his classmate. “Are you Yurio’s friend?”

“Yeah, we’re classmates!” Said classmate takes Viktor’s hand to shake it. “My name is Seiko! Nice to meet you!”

“Oh, and you have to meet his other dad too.” Viktor ushers me towards the left window and I end up sitting on his lap. “This is Yuuri!”

My face burns bright as I extend my hand out for Seiko to shake. “Nice to meet you, Seiko! Thank you so much for being Yuri’s friend!”

“Ah, it’s nothing, really,” Seiko laughs that girlish laugh as she scratches at the back of her neck. “Yuri is a really great person and he got along with everyone in class quite easily.”

“Wow, is that true, Yurio?”

“I-I guess…?” Yurio’s face is bright red now. “Everyone was pretty nice to me though.”

“Ah, that’s so great to hear!” I clap my hands together as I giggle. “Would you like to join us for dinner, Seiko?”

“Ah, I’d love to, but my dad is expecting me home soon, you see,” Seiko lets out an apologetic chuckle as she gives a little bow. “I’m really sorry!”

“No, no, that’s quite alright,” I dismiss the apology with the wave of a hand as I shift myself on Viktor’s lap. It’s either Seiko doesn’t notice that I’m sitting on his lap or she’s just to polite to point it out, which I silently thank her for.

“Anyway, Yuri-kun,” Seiko turns around to give him a little bow and then back to us. “Yuri-kun’s dads.” Another bow. “I have to get going now. It was nice meeting you!” She gives us a little wave.  
“And Yuri-kun, I’ll see you tomorrow in class, okay?”

“Y-Yeah…” Yurio pauses a bit as he purses his lips tightly as the red on his cheeks only grows brighter. “I’ll see you tomorrow too.”

“Take care!” Seiko calls out as she starts walking away with the wave of a hand.

“Yeah…” Yurio’s lips curl into a faint smile as he raises his hand to wave back at her. “You take care too.”

“Yay, Yurio’s first friend!” Viktor claps happily as I shuffle off his lap and take my place on the driver’s seat. Yurio scoffs and grumbles something indistinct as he climbs into the back of the car.

“She seems like such a nice girl! Don’t you think so, Yuuri?”

“Yeah,” I let out a chuckle as I start the engine. “He seems like he had a lot of fun.” I stick my head out of the window so I could take a look at Yurio.

“Right, Yurio?”

“Whatever,” he grumbles and immediately tears his gaze away from me, the flustered look on his face still as apparent as it was not less than five minutes ago. “Can we just go home now? I need help with some homework.”

_Home._

When Yurio first showed up on our doorstep wild and angry, I’d never have imagined him to call the farm his home. Just thinking about it gives me that warm, pleasant feeling that settles in your chest and lingers for the rest of the day.

I start the engine and put my foot to the pedal.

Homework on the first day of school? How despicable.

With that in mind, I drive ourselves back to our quaint little farm house.

 

“So, how was school, Yurio?” I ask him as him as I take a pork cutlet from the center of the table and dip it into some sauce. Makkachin is sprawled comfortably under the table chewing on a bone after eating her dinner.

“I guess it was fine.” Yurio says with a faint smile on his face as he takes a fried shrimp from the table and eats it. “Everyone was really friendly though.”

“That’s so great to hear! How about your teachers though? Were they good?”

Suddenly, my mind travels back to that science teacher who refused to give me an extension for my research paper. If he’s still working in the same school, then I want Yurio not to go through the exact same thing that I did.

Just looking back on those days where I was sleep-deprived and my hair would fall out like crazy because of the stress gives me the chills.

“The teachers were good though…except for one.”

Could I be right?

“Except for one…?” My eyes narrow as the chopsticks in my hand stills.

“Our science teacher was a total prick,” Yurio groans as he stuffs takes in a mouthful of rice. “He gave us a homework about balancing chemical formulas even when he hadn’t taught us anything about that thing yet!”

“Yurio, what is this teacher’s name?”

Beside me, Viktor just eats his food in peace as he looks on.

“Wakabayashi Suichirou.”

Suddenly, it’s as if a bell has been rung inside my brain.

 Wakabayashi Suichirou. The most hated of teachers in Hasetsu High. It comes as a surprise to me that a teacher such as him hasn’t been fired yet despite his less than stellar teaching methods or rather, what passes as teaching for him.

Even until now, I can still recall the dead look in my classmates’ eyes after yet another torturous display of workload in his subject. Not only that, but a lot of the test questions in his exams are things he haven’t even discussed at all.

After the three of us finish dinner, I put on an all-nighter so I can help Yurio answer his homework. Viktor goes to sleep with the other side of the bed empty as I finish the homework for Yurio once he’d gotten sleepy. The next day, Yurio comes home with a smile on his face saying that he got a perfect score on his homework.

Not more than a month into the school year, a student files a lawsuit against Wakabayashi Suichirou.

The students of Hasetsu High rejoice upon the arrival of a new substitute teacher.

* * *

 

It’s three in the morning and I’m watching a tutorial on how to temper chocolate on my phone while I follow the on-screen instructions. It’s Valentine’s day today and I wanted to surprise Viktor and Yurio with chocolate in the morning. When I made sure that Viktor was asleep like the dead, I slipped myself out from his octopus-like hold and snuck into the kitchen.

_“Make sure you keep swiping that chocolate with your palette knife. The movement will encourage the cocoa molecules to line up together and become rigid.”_

My eyes can barely focus on the screen with how heavy they are. I let out a yawn. I wish I could have just done this last night. But then again, it wouldn’t be a surprise if they saw me making this.

After the liquid chocolate has been poured into molds, I wait a few minutes for them to set before wrapping them up in colorful cellophane sheets. After a job well done, I place the chocolate in a discrete location in the fridge (e.g., an empty jar of mayonnaise) and head back to the room to sleep.

“Yuuri, where were you?” Viktor grumbles sleepily as he throws an arm around me as soon as I slip myself under the covers.

“Calm down, Viktor, I was just unclogging the drains.” I shift myself to face him before slotting my head against the crook of his neck.

“At three in the morning?” He yawns.

“Yes.” I close my eyes as I wrap an arm around his waist. When his hand finds my head, he runs his fingers against my hair, his nails scratching lightly at my scalp.

“You always surprise me, Yuuri,” Viktor lets out a sleepy hum as his fingers slow down before stilling completely. “Good night, Yuuri.”

“Mm…good night, Viktor.”

 

After everyone is finished with breakfast, I take out the empty jar of mayonnaise from a fridge.

“I have surprise for everyone!” I beam happily as I walk towards the dining table. Viktor and Yurio immediately turn their heads towards me in anticipation.

“Mayonnaise?” Yurio crinkles his nose in disgust. The boy hates mayonnaise. After I bought him a burger, he told me the mayonnaise in it tasted absolutely disgusting.

“Oh, no, it’s something much better.” I pop open the lid and reach into the jar. I take out the cellophane wraps and present them with a flourish. “Ta-da! I made chocolates for the both of you!”

“I made one for you.” I hand a cellophane wrap with cat-shaped chocolates to Yurio.

“And of course, one for you too, Viktor.” Viktor practically beams brightly as I hand him his chocolate.

He tears open the wrap and picks up a piece of chocolate that looks like a certain poodle.

“It looks like Makkachin!”

From the other side of the table, Yurio gasps as he unwraps his chocolate.

“A cat!” He picks up a chocolate piece and puts it into his mouth. “And it tastes really great too!”

“I’m really glad you like it!”

“Yuuri, is this what kept you up at three in the morning?” Viktor gives me a sweet little smile as he takes a bite of the chocolate.

“Yeah,” I chuckle. “Do you like it?”

“Do I like it? Yuuri, I love it!” He smiles at me brightly as he throws his arms around me for a big tight hug. “This is the best thing I’ve ever tasted!”

He said the same thing when he first ate my—okay, backtrack, backtrack.  I wouldn’t want to be going down that train of thought.

“Aww, _you’re_ the best thing I’ve ever tasted,” I giggle before pressing a sweet, chaste kiss on his lips. At least this one has a much more innocent context than the one conjured up by my mind.

“Oh, Yuuri,” Viktor chuckles before giving me a peck back. “I’ve got something much better waiting for you later.” He gives my nose a little boop.

“Ugh,” Yurio groans in disgust, rolling his eyes as he puts his chocolates inside his school bag. “This is just like watching my parents kiss.”

“Are you saying that _we’re_ your parents, Yurio?” Viktor and I snicker in unison as we direct our gazes at him.

Yurio turns as red as the coils of a kitchen burner.

“I didn’t say that!” He bellows as he puts his arms through the straps of his backpack. “It was a simile! A figure of speech!”

“Ugh, first I get to see you kiss in front of me all the time and now I get to hear about your sex life.” Yurio kicks off his fluffy cat slippers and puts his shoes on.

“Whatever you say, Yurio.” Viktor chuckles as he wraps an arm around my waist.

“Whatever, I’m going to school now so I won’t have to hear things that I don’t need to hear,” he scoffs as he walks towards the front door.

“Ah, are you sure you don’t want me to drive you to school?” I smile at him despite the blush on my face.

“Don’t bother.” He takes the hair tie off his wrist to tie his hair into a little ponytail. “I don’t want any of your sappiness to affect me for the rest of the day.”

“Well, if you say so!” I let out a little laugh. “Take care!” I wave my hand at him as he opens the door and steps a foot outside.

“Yeah, I will. See you later.”

Viktor yells “Goodbye, son!” on the top of his lungs and Yurio’s eyes balloon into the size of saucers before slamming the door behind him.

“Well, I suppose it was worth a shot,” Viktor chuckles as he takes his arm off my waist and walks towards the kitchen sink.

Before he could even turn the faucet on, I place my hand on top of his to stop him.

“So, Viktor…” He immediately turns his head around to face me. “You said you had something much better waiting for me?” I bat my eyelashes at him coyly as my lips curl into a smirk.

Quickly and without warning, Viktor launches himself towards me and latches his lips against mine. His hands roam around my body as he kisses me the air out of my lungs against the kitchen counter. I wrap my arms around his neck and hoist myself up against the counter as his kisses begin trailing down my jaw and then the side of my neck.

“So…” I breathe out softly as he presses a kiss against my fluttering pulse. “Is this your Valentine’s day gift for me?”

“Mh-hmm.” He draws out that low, sexy hum that makes my toes and the tips of my fingers tingle. Viktor slides his hand underneath my sweater, his palm roaming against the expanse of bare skin underneath.

“What part of this is supposed to be something better?”

Viktor stills. And when he looks at me, his pupils are blown out wide with lust.

Clothes come flying off in the kitchen and the counter gets used for something else other than food preparation

 

“You bit me.” I groan as I give the bite mark on my nape a little poke, only to hiss once it stings upon contact with my finger.

“I’m sorry, Yuuri,” Viktor croons as he wraps his arms around me from behind and gives my shoulder a little kiss. The skin on my neck, shoulders and chest is marred with bites and hickeys all from Viktor himself. “Does it hurt?”

“Sort of.” I draw my hand away from my neck to rest it against Viktor’s.

“I’ll get you something for it.” When he unwraps his arms, I feel a strange emptiness as his warmth is replaced by a cold draft blowing through the cracks underneath the door. The kitchen isn’t an ideal place for sexual exploits.

When he pads his way towards the bathroom to get some stuff, I can’t help but be drawn by the sight of those firm and well-toned buttcheeks. I think I have a good butt myself and Phichit has even commented on how ‘A bubble butt like that would really look good in booty shorts’ but then again, there’s always those uneven ridges of skin that Viktor seems to love.

“I’m back,” Viktor calls out as he comes back with a bottle of antiseptic, some cotton balls and a band-aid.

He takes his seat behind me on the couch as I hear the cap of the antiseptic bottle click open.

“Does it look that bad?” I pull the blanket over my waist as he starts dabbing a piece of wet cotton against the nape of my neck with light touches.

He lets out a long, drawn-out sigh as he places a large band-aid over the bite mark.

“I’m sorry, Yuuri.” He wraps his arms around middle and gives my nape a gentle little peck. “I’m sorry if I got a little carried away.”

I chuckle. It’s in moments like this that I can really see just how cute he can be when he fusses over me.

“It’s alright, Viktor.” I crane my head to the side so I can give his lips a soft, quick peck. “I’m sure it’ll heal in no time.”

“B-But…” His lips curl into that characteristic pout I just can’t help but love every time. “But what if it leaves a scar?”

“Well, I’m sure it’ll serve as a reminder for you on just how much fun you had with me today,” I chuckle softly at him before throwing a wink his way for good measure.

To be honest, just the thought of him going wild, vicious and unrestrained just because of how much of an effect I have over him…it makes me feel confident. And sexy.

Behind me, Viktor short-circuits and goes red. It’s one thing to make me blush, but it’s another thing entirely to make Viktor do the same.

“Yuuri!” Viktor whines as he buries his face against the crook of my neck. “That’s really sexy but now dirty things will have to pop up into my mind whenever I look at it!”

“You didn’t have a problem with these so-called ‘dirty things’,” I make quotation marks in the air to emphasize my point. “…When you walked around the house wearing nothing but an apron.”

“I was simply exploring my kinks, Yuuri.”

“Well then, I guess I am too.” I chuckle and crane my head to the side to place a kiss on his hairline that he’s so conscious of.

“Maybe I do like you leaving your mark all over me.”

“Yuuri, you’re unbelievable!” He whines into the crook of my neck. “It was so easy to get you all flustered but now look at you. I don’t know whether to be happy because of the possibility of new kinks or sad because I can’t tease you as well anymore.”

For the first time ever, I declare my victory over this sadistic octopus of a man that is Viktor.

“Well, Viktor,” I chuckle victoriously as I turn around to drape my arms around his neck, our faces precariously close to one another.

 I lean in closer to close the gap between us. Viktor closes his eyes and puckers out those lips, expecting a kiss. Before my lips could even press against his, I draw myself away and give him a teasing wink.

“People change.”

“Ugh, Yuuri,” Viktor groans, his cheeks all flushed and red.

I don’t know whether he sounds frustrated or aroused. I look down.

It’s both.

“I want you to leave your mark all over me too.”

Without a second thought, I push Viktor against the sofa and plant my knees on both sides of his hips, straddling him as I sink myself down against him.

Once he bottoms out, I breathe sharply between my teeth before bouncing on top of him. Beneath me, Viktor reaches out for my hands and wraps his fingers tightly against mine as his chest rises and falls to my rhythmic movement.

My nerves are on fire, every signal firing through my brain electric.

It’s been not more than five minutes since our last round and yet here I am, riding his cock like a very sexy jetski in the living room.

The house is silent except for our labored breathing and the lewd sound of skin slapping against skin filling the quiet air.

As I push and pull against him, I yank Viktor by his hair and drink in his moans, I locking my lips sloppily against his. His nails drag against my back, leaving angry red stripes in its wake as we drown in each other’s pleasure.

I part my lips from his and latch my teeth against his jawline before moving my way down to his neck to suck marks against his skin.

“Fuck…” Viktor hisses between his teeth as he trails his hand down my back to cup my ass tightly. He pistons his cock up and up and up and up again, hitting my prostate madly as he writhes in pleasure beneath me.

“V-Viktor…” My lips part to emit a choked-out moan as I begin seeing stars in my head. I latch my teeth against the side of his neck to keep myself grounded to this world as we meet each other’s thrusts.

When the pressure in my abdomen grows like a coil pulled taut, I sink my teeth into his skin as I empty my load against his stomach. When I pull my mouth away from his neck, my tongue runs against my lips to taste copper.

Looking at Viktor from way up here all messed up and undone because of me…it’s a view that just gets me going knowing how much of an effect I have on him.

“God, Yuuri…!” His muscles grow tense as he moans out my name. The only time I ever hear god and my name used in the same sentence is in blissful moments like this.

When his warm seed coats every inch of my insides, I ride out his orgasm and treat myself to a final series of thrusts. When I pull away, his release trickles out of me before running down my thigh.

“Oh, Viktor…” I wrap my arms around his exhausted body. His breaths are coming out in ragged puffs as I press my ear against his chest to listen to the erratic beating of his heart.

“God, Yuuri, you’re freaky,” he chokes out a laugh despite the labored breathing. “You really bit me.”

Right. I bit him.

“Does…does it hurt?” I frown slightly as I look at the mark on his neck bleeding.

“Yeah, it kind of does,” he chuckles. He reaches his hand out and then cradles the side of my face. “But I loved it.”

I feel myself grow red to my shoulders upon looking at the reminder of my unrestrained self on his neck.

“Besides, don’t you think we match?” He smiles that sweet cassanova smile at me as he presses his palm against the side of his neck.

“Well…I guess we do.” I let out a little giggle before leaning down to give the tip of his nose a little peck. I get myself off of him and take the bottle of antiseptic and the pack of cotton balls from the coffee table.

 “Anyway, let’s get you all patched up before someone thinks you’ve been mauled by a cannibal,” he and I laugh as he sits up on the couch.

“Wait, Yuuri--!” Viktor’s eyes widen to the size of saucers as his face grows a bright red. “Your thigh!”

“My what?” When I look down, I see that his release has dripped down from my thigh and onto the hardwood floor. Well that’s another thing to take care of.

I turn red to my shoulders and grab a rag to wipe myself down and the floor to remove any trace of our indecent exploits. I sit beside him on the couch and start dressing the wound on his neck. After the bite mark has been cleaned and disinfected, I place a big-square shaped band aid on it similar to mine.

“All done.” I give it a little pat and a peck.

“Yuuri, you’re so hot when you don’t hold yourself back,” Viktor chuckles as he wraps his arm around my waist and gives me a big fat kiss on the cheek.

“I’m glad to know that my efforts don’t go unappreciated,” I giggle as I rest my head against his chest. My head feels calm and clear after the high, but when something hits me, my heart feels like it’s jumping against my throat.

“Viktor!” I jolt upright from the sofa and grab Viktor by the arm to get him off as well. On said furniture was a suspicious wet stain that gleams menacingly against the overhead lights.

“Get dressed!” I practically shriek as I pick up my clothes and dress myself up in a panic.

“Yuuri?” Viktor shape-shifts into the same clothes as mine, effectively covering the numerous marks I left except for the ones on his neck. “Is something wrong?”

“Viktor, there is semen on the sofa!” I scream as I skitter towards the kitchen to grab a brush and some soap from the bottom drawers.

“Don’t just stand there!” I start spraying the stained spot on the sofa before brushing it vigorously. Then I remember that it’s not only the sofa that needs cleaning.  
“Make yourself useful and clean the kitchen!”

“Right!” Viktor immediately runs off to clean the kitchen of any trace of our sexual exploits.

Lesson learned: If Viktor and I want to get freaky, we should confine it to the four walls of our bedroom. I don’t want to scandalize our other occupant more than we already have. After the sofa has been adequately brushed and dried with a hair dryer, I give it a little sniff to check if it needs more cleaning.

No smell. Sofa is clean and anyone who sits on it asides Viktor and I will never know of what occurred on that certain piece of furniture. I make my way to the kitchen to check on Viktor and his cleaning progress.

All the countertops have been wiped clean, the smell of bleach stark against the crisp morning air.

“Whew.” Viktor wipes the sweat off his brow as he tosses off the used rags into the trash.  “You know, Yuuri, I wouldn’t have minded if we had a little reminder of that time on pieces of furniture.”

“Viktor, we have a minor living in our house!” I shriek as I feel my face on fire. I take in a deep breath and pinch the bridge of my nose to calm myself down.

“Alright,” I breathe out. “Let’s just go out and feed the animals, alright?”

“But Yuuri, are you sure?” Viktor’s attention is directed at my butt. “You’re limping.”

“I’ll be fine, Viktor,” I wave the concern off. But god, my butt does feel sore. The ache spreads to my lower back whenever I take a step. This is the price I have to pay for being freaky with someone whose dick is freakishly huge.

“Alright,” Viktor sighs, concern writ on his face. “Just tell me if you can’t take it, alright?” His smile is faint and warm and sweet.

I nod and smile back at him as a warmth begins to spread across my cheeks. “Alright.”

I put on a coat and Viktor and I head outside to feed the animals. Makkachin follows us outside and rolls in the snow to her heart’s content.

While we do our chores, though, I can’t shake off the feeling that I forgot something.

 

“I’m home,” Yurio calls out with a huff as he places various paper bags filled with chocolate on the dinner table.

“Welcome back, Yurio.” I give him a little chuckle as I look at the overwhelming volume of chocolate in the bags. “Quite the popular one, aren’t you?”

“I don’t know if I should be flattered or fearing for my blood sugar.”

“Did someone confess to you, Yurio?” Viktor asks him enthusiastically as he claps both of his hands together. Yurio blushes noticeably.

“So someone _did_ confess to you!” Viktor chuckles as he ruffles Yurio’s hair, much to his displeasure. “I’m so proud! My little Yurio’s growing up!”

“Whatever, old man,” he scoffs. “What the hell is up with the band-aids and the marks on your necks though?”

My body temperature spikes up at the mention.

“Did someone maul you?”

“Well, Yurio,” I give him a nervous chuckle as I rub at the back of my neck. Then, it hits him. The look on Yurio’s face morphs to that of equal parts distaste and disgust.

“God, when will the two of you ever stop being freaky?” He groans as he takes the chocolates from the paper bag and stuffs it in the fridge to keep cool.

“But don’t you know, Yurio?” Viktor starts as he wraps an arm around my middle. “That’s what adults that love each other do!”

“I don’t need to hear any of this right now, old man!” He throws a chocolate bar at Viktor and effectively smacks it against his face. Viktor takes the chocolate bar without a care in the world and rips open the plastic wrap to take a bite from it.

He slams the fridge door shut and paces towards the counter. “God, my lips are so chapped.” He picks up a small tin of lip balm and smears the thing against his lips.

When I see the label on the tin of the lip balm, my eyes widen in horror and realization.

_That’s not lip balm at all._

* * *

 

When Yuuko calls me one day, her voice is bright and chipper on the other line as she told me that they bought Ice Castle back. Since the people who converted it into a convention center couldn’t pay the bills for its upkeep, they had no choice but to sell the property back to the Nishigoris.

After a few months of renovating the rink to its former glory, Hasetsu Ice Castle is finally back in business. Not only that, the Nishigoris now have two sources of income with Nishigori himself managing the store while Yuuko takes care of Ice Castle. As Viktor, Yurio and I head inside, it’s as if I’ve stepped inside the rink for the first time ever. When the doors shut behind me, the blinding glare of the ice beckons out to me like a beacon in the darkness.

It’s surreal, really. Seeing the rink I skated on throughout the years finally back before my eyes…it just hits me with a wave of nostalgia.

“Ah, you’re here!” Yuuko walks out from behind the counter cheerfully to greet us. “You’re one of the first people to visit for Hasetsu Ice Castle’s grand reopening!”

“Wow, Yuuri, is this the skating rink you practiced at during competitions?” Viktor’s lips curl into that adorable heart-shaped smile as he looks around.

“It is,” I smile at him faintly. “It brings back a lot of memories to be back here.” This is the place that started it, after all. Before I could even help it, my eyes start welling up with tears.

“Yuuri?” Yuuko’s face flashes a look of concern. “Is everything alright?” From behind me, Viktor places a hand on my shoulder to steady me.

“Yeah, yeah.” I laugh softly as I wipe my tears away with the back of my hand. “It’s just…” I sniffle and look behind me, where a concerned Viktor and Yurio stands. “I’m just so happy to be finally sharing this place with the new people in my life.”

“This is the place that started everything, after all,” Yuuko chuckles before giving my shoulder a little pat. “Even just having this place again brought back a lot of emotions to me too.”

“I see.” I let out a little chuckle before finally composing myself. “Anyway, are you guys ready to go skating?”

“Of course.” When Viktor smiles at me sweetly, his eyes sparkle. “I might as well learn a thing or two with you.”

“Oh, I’ll teach you all there is to know about skating!”

“Ah, and how about you, Yurio-kun?” Yuuko walks up towards him. “Do you want me to teach you?”

“Well…” A blush begins settling on Yurio’s face as his lips curl into a smile. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to learn.”

“Perfect!” Yuuko claps her hands together cheerfully before leading us to the skate racks to pick out our skates, which Viktor describes as shoes with knives.

When I step into the ice, it feels as though I’m stepping on it for the first time in my life. The familiar chill of the rink that wafts into my nose warms my heart as memories come flooding through. Nearly most of my life has been spent on ice. All my anxiety, sadness and joy…the ice bore witness to all of that.

As I skate my way slowly to the center, Viktor grips onto my hands to keep himself steady.

“So, Yuuri, I was told that you’re quite the skater,” Viktor chuckles as he tries to keep himself steady on his skates. “Mind showing me the reigns?”

“I’d be happy to, Viktor,” I laugh as I lock my fingers with his. “And I won’t let you fall, either.”

“I already have, Yuuri.” He beams that charming smile at me that never fails to just make my heart race.

“God, even outside the house, the two of you still manage to be gross and sappy!” Yurio shouts from the other side of the rink as he holds on to Yuuko’s hands.

“You’ll find someone you like someday too, Yurio!” Viktor calls out from behind him with a happy little laugh.

I show Viktor the basics first. I teach him how to glide across the ice slowly and learn how to balance on the ice. He stumbles a lot but he eventually gets the hang of it and even starts speeding up himself when he skates circles around the rink. Yurio, on the other hand, looks like he’s having fun himself when Yuuko twirls him around on the ice. He laughs like he never has in a long time.

Viktor attempts to land a jump on the ice, only to lose his footing and smack his face against the ground once he lands.

“Viktor, are you alright?” I help him up from the ice as he rubs at a reddening bruise on his cheek. Despite that, however, Viktor only looks and unfazed and more eager to learn more. “We should really save the complicated stuff for when you get the hang of the basics,” I chuckle as I give him a little pat.

“Does your cheek hurt?” I take my face in his hand to inspect the damage. It doesn’t look too bad. All it probably needs is some ice and the reddening will go down. I pull back the corner of his lips to the side (which comes up as a surprise to him) to check for bleeding or any broken teeth to find none of the sort.

“What was that all about, Yuuri?” Viktor chuckles as he gives my hair a little ruffle. “Were you worried about me?”

“Of course I am, you idiot.” I laugh as I give him a soft jab to the chest. “Don’t attempt anything like that again unless you’re sure you can handle it.” Now I’m starting to sound like my own coach from before.

“I was pretty sure I could,” he snickers.

“Not until you break a leg trying to attempt it,” I scold him, to which I earn that familiar playful pout. “Now, let’s continue where we left off, alright?” I smile at him faintly as I take his hand in mine, its feel a warm and familiar weight against my hand. “I can hold your hand so you won’t fall over.”

“Oh, Yuuri,” he sighs dreamily as I skate circles around the rink with him trailing beside me. “Every time you say that, I can’t help but fall more than I already have.”

“You’re insufferable, Viktor.” I laugh as I let go of his hand to skate behind him and place my hands on his waist.

“But you love me, anyway.” He leans his head to the side to give me a little peck on the cheek.

“Maybe I do.” I humor him and return the kiss. Once our feet begin to pick up pace, I hold his hands to extend his arms out on both sides of his body. With the wind in his hair and the glare of the ice reflecting against those eyes, he looks absolutely breathtaking.

“Looking good, you two!” Yuuko calls out from the other side of the rink.

My entire body shakes with laughter that starts at my core before rolling throughout my body in waves. When Viktor puts his arms down, he skates in front of me and places his hand on my waist, with the other in mine. Our feet move together in a waltz-like dance as we glide on the ice slowly. As we make our way across the rink, I take Viktor’s hand and he spins on the ice before twirling his way back into my arms.

“You’re getting good,” I chuckle softly as we stand chest to chest with our arms stretched out against one another like you would in tango.

“What can I say, Mr. Katsuki?” He chuckles that low, charming chuckle. When he gives me a little dip, the breath escapes from my mouth before he pulls me back up into his arms like the absolute charmer he is. “I’m a fast learner, after all.” To top it all off, he gives me a flirtatious little wink.

“Indeed you are.” Viktor twirls me around as he keeps a hand on my waist before pulling me close again and wrapping both of his arms around me from behind. He turns me around again so I could face him before he places his hands on my waist and hoisting me high up in the air.

“V-Viktor!” I exclaim in equal parts delight and surprise before he brings me down.

 When he lowers me down just so, I wrap my legs around his waist as I cradle his cheek tenderly. When my lips curl into a faint smile, he lovingly leans against my touch as he flutters those long silver eyelashes close. When his eyes open to reveal those glittering blue gems, his gaze is warm and loving. It’s crazy to think how just four months ago, I barely knew anything about the secrets those eyes held. Now that we’ve come to know and love each other even more as the days pass by, the things that would beckon out to me from its depths are laid bare for me to see.

When I run the back of my fingers against his cheek, I lean down to press my lips against his in a kiss. His lips are soft, warm and sweet just like the first time I tasted them. As the warmth of his lips lovingly lingers against mine, my mind wanders off to that moment in the woods where the both of us laid bare our feelings for one another. Retiring from skating, starting a farm on my own and witnessing a strange craft that day…never would I have thought that those moments would lead to this.

Looking back on those moments now is just like looking up at the stars at night—their forms gone yet their light ever-present against the dark backdrop of my mind.

When I pull away from the kiss, Viktor puts me down and raises his hands to cradle my face tenderly. He runs his fingers lovingly against my skin as if he’s turning something precious over in his hands. When he gazes upon me, I see the ice in his blue eyes thaw and melt with the warmth of love.

“Get a room, you two!” Yurio shouts from across the rink, but his voice is muffled out with the sound of my own heart thrumming loudly in my ears.

“I love you so much, Yuuri.” His voice is soft and sweet as he runs his thumb softly against my bottom lip.

“I love you too, Viktor.” I wrap my arms around his neck and lean in close to kiss him. When I pull away, he has that dumb, adorable grin on his face.

“Tone it down you, two or the ice is going to melt,” Yuuko chuckles from the other side of the rink. When I look behind me, she’s holding the hands of a somewhat disgruntled Yurio. “Yurio’s been scoffing at the both of you for a while now.”

“If the two of you get any ideas, at least save it for when we get home, you old geezers!” He scoffs before tearing his gaze away and getting back to his skating lessons with Yuuko.

“Well, I suppose he’s right,” Viktor smiles at me before giving me another kiss on the cheek.

“Well this is new, coming from you.” I chuckle as he unwraps his arms from me before settling on resting his hand against my lower back. “I’m not even sure if you’re the same person who wouldn’t mind being spotted doing something naughty in the theater, even.”

“Oh, I wouldn’t mind doing naughty things with you anywhere if you ask me to, Yuuri.”

When he winks at me, he sets my face on fire.

“As if I’d ask for something like that!” I move further from him before skating away across the rink. “Stupid Viktor!”

“What’s wrong, Yuuri? Got into a fight with baldy?” Yurio remarks with a sneer. I let his comment slide by as I start skating circles around the rink.

“Yuuuuri!” Viktor whines as he skates after me. “I’m sorry, I won’t say anything weird like that again!”

“Hmph.” I turn myself away from him as I begin gaining speed on the rink. On the inside, though, I was smirking at myself internally for getting back at him again. Before he could even think of gaining on me, I make a jump before taking off into a triple loop and landing it cleaner than I thought I would.

From the corner I could hear Yuuko clapping her hands and cheering.

“Yuuri, please forgive me!” Viktor finally manages to get a hold of me and he wraps his arms around me from behind to stop me. “I promise I won’t say anything like that again.”

“Hm, I don’t know Viktor.” My lips curl into a slight smirk as I shrug him off me.

“Huh?”

“Well…” I turn around and place a hand against his chest, my finger tracing the outline of his pec underneath his sweater. I yank him by the front of his sweater so I can pull him close before whispering into his ear.

“I do love it when you talk dirty to me in bed.”

When I skate away, the look on Viktor’s face is absolutely priceless.

* * *

 

When I get home from shopping in the market, I am greeted by the sight of the house with the lights all dimmed down.

“Viktor?” I shuck my shoes off at the entrance before making my way further inside. Amidst the darkness of the house though, there was a faint orange glow that seems to come from the dining area. Standing before the table is Viktor, arranging flowers in a vase as the glow from the candle light flickers golden against the silver of his hair.

“Viktor?” I find myself pleasantly taken aback at this scene. On the table are two empty bowls across each other, two small candles in a glass container and a vase of plastic flowers as a centerpiece.

“Ah, Yuuri, you’re home!” Viktor looks up from the vase before walking towards me to give me a hug and a little peck on the lips.

“So…what’s this all about?” I chuckle as I feel a faint blush creep up my cheeks.

“Don’t you see? This is a candle-lit dinner.” He smiles at me sweetly as he takes my hand and pulls out a chair for me.

“Very gentlemanly today, aren’t we?” I return the smile to him as he walks towards the fridge and heats up a container of something in the microwave before returning to the table.

“Wasn’t I always?” He tips out the contents of the container into the bowls and a familiar aroma wafts through the air. Immediately, I can feel my mouth watering.

“Katsudon?”

“Mh-hmm.” He nods as he settles himself from across the table and picks up his chopsticks. “I got Mama Hiroko to tell me her recipe when I called her a while ago!”

“Really?” When I take in a mouthful of cutlet in my mouth, my brain explodes into fireworks at this flavor sensation. “Viktor, this tastes really good! Thank you so much!”

“Aww, anything for my Yuuri,” he reaches out from across the table to give my cheek a little pinch, which leaves me blushing. “The moment you left for shopping, I had this all planned!” Viktor starts eating from his bowl and hums in satisfaction.

I can’t help myself but blush even more and chuckle at the effort he’s put into all this. Viktor may be silly at times, but he can’t help but get a little extra too.

“So what’s the occasion?”

“The occasion, Yuuri, is that it’s been five month since we first met each other.” He flashes that charming smile at me as those baby blues glow golden in the candlelight.

Suddenly, I feel myself jolt in my seat and feel red to my shoulders.

“It is? Oh my gosh, I can’t believe that I forgot all about it!” My face burns with the strength of the son at having forgotten something so important. Here he is, preparing a candlelit dinner for the both of us while I didn’t even get him anything.

“Aww, I can’t believe you forgot, Yuuri,” he whines playfully before breaking out into a chuckle. “How can you possibly forget the day the love of your life walked into your world?”

I sigh. “I’m really sorry, Viktor. I hadn’t even realized.” Ahh, I feel so embarrassed now. “What kind of boyfriend am I now, even?” I introduce my hand to my face to knead my temples.

“Hey, it’s alright, Yuuri.” He assures me with a little pat on the hand from across the table. “Spending every day with you is a gift enough to me.”

“I’m so glad you think so, Viktor,” I lower my hand with a soft sigh before my lips curl into a faint smile. “But I should at least give you something to repay you for your effort.”

“Oh, Yuuri, it can wait,” he dismisses the thought with the wave of a hand.

And then, when an idea pops up into my head I almost fall out of my seat. The rings! Come to think of it, I hadn’t even showed them to him since the time I bought them.

“Yuuri, are you okay?” Viktor chuckles as he munches on a cutlet. “You looked like you were about to fall over there.”

“Oh yeah, yeah, I’m okay.” I chuckle as I wave my hand in front of me. “It’s just that…I’ve never had a candle-lit dinner before.”

“Really?” Here it goes again. I sigh. He’s probably gonna tease me for my inexperience. “People must’ve been really blind not to set up a little dinner for someone as beautiful as you.”

If I was blushing before, then my face is reddening even further. Viktor has been showering me with compliments whenever he gets the opportunity to and yet I still can’t get used to the idea of someone calling me beautiful.

“V-Viktor, you can be too much sometimes.” I chuckle softly as I stuff my mouth with rice. “It’s cute.”

“Aww, _you’re_ cute, Yuuri.” His lips curl into that adorable heart-shaped smile as he continues eating from his bowl.

“By the way, Viktor.” I say after taking a sip of water. “Where’s Yurio?”

“Ah, Yurio’s staying the night at a friend’s place. He told me that he’ll be back in the morning.”

“Hmm I see.” I take another juicy cutlet into my mouth. “By the way, Viktor…”

“Hm?” His head perks up upon the mention of his name. I begin feeling giddy as I can’t help but curl the corners of my lips into a smile.

“After dinner, I have something to show you.” Right. I might as well give him the rings when the opportunity is right. “It’s a surprise.”

“Oh, is it, now?” He raises an eyebrow playfully as he smirks at me.

“Not that kind of surprise, stupid,” I laugh as I nudge his leg with my foot from under the table. “It’s…I hope you’ll like it though.”

“Oh, I’m bound to love anything that comes from you, Yuuri.” He gives my leg a little poke as he laughs playfully. After we finish our dinner of katsudon, Viktor brings out a no-bake cheesecake from the fridge for dessert.

“Gateau au fromage with confiture de fraises,” he says as he serves me a slice. I don’t remember teaching him French.

“You mean cheese cake with strawberry jam?” I chuckle as I take my fork just as Viktor takes his seat from across the table.

“Or that.” He giggles softly as he takes in a small slice of cake. After the plates have been cleared and our bellies are full, I walk to our shared bedroom and take the ring box out of the drawer where it has laid for months. As I slip the box into my pocket, I feel my heart rate quickening. I take in a deep breath to calm my nerves and walk my way back towards the dining room.

“Viktor, I have something for you.” I smile at him shyly as he walks towards me.

“Is it the surprise you told me about?” His smile is faint and sweet as I reach into my pocket.

“Uh-huh.” I can practically feel my heart thrumming loudly in my ears as I take the ring box out. “Hold out your hand like this.” I hold out the back of my hand to demonstrate.

When he does, I open the box and take one golden ring. When I slip the ring on his finger, my breath hitches.

“I wanted to get something for the both of us…” I say softly as he remains silent where he stands, his gaze fixated on the ring on his finger. “So that we could think of each other no matter where in the world we may be.”

“I wanted to get us something to serve as a token of our love…” I take the other ring from the box and place it on his hand. “I want to show you just how much I treasure you…and the things you’ve brought into my life.” Viktor’s eyes light up with warmth as his lips curl into a sweet faint, smile. He slips the ring onto my finger before.

“So please, Viktor…” I purse my lips as I feel tears threatening to cloud my vision. The look in Viktor’s face morphs into that of love. “Stay close to me and never leave.”

“Oh, Yuuri.” His cheeks glow a faint shade of pink as he slips the ring on my finger. “I’d never think of leaving.” His smile is warm and sweet and loving. “I’ll be with you for as long as you’ll have me.”

“Stupid Viktor.” I chuckle as I wipe my tears away with the back of my hand. “You know I’ll always have you forever.”

When he looks at me, his blue eyes overflow with tears.

“Yuuri…” He clasps my hand tightly in his to press kisses against each of my knuckles. “You don’t know just how happy that makes me…” When he smiles at me, his tears flow down his face like a streamlet, clear and vivid and beautiful. “What did I ever do to deserve someone as beautiful as you?” His hand comes up to rest against my cheek, the warmth of his hand glowing a faint blue against my skin.

“I never thought that someone as sinful as me would ever be given the chance to be happy again.”

“I’d never have thought that someone as plain as me would ever find love either.” My lips curl into a faint smile as a tear escapes from my eye. Viktor is quick to wipe the tear away with his thumb. “I always thought that I’d lead an uneventful life with no one or nothing to truly call my own but…”

“Who would have thought that the love of my life came 2.5 million light years all the way to earth?” I chuckle softly. “You were right, Viktor. Everything that happened to us has led to this moment. All the tears, all the regrets and downfalls…” When I cup both sides of his face, his eyes overflow. “It led to what we share right now.”

“You’re right.” Viktor chuckles softly. His cheeks glow blue under my touch. “Everything I went through was painful and yet…it’s nothing compared to the happiness I have right now.”

“I love you, Yuuri.” He cups both sides of my face as he inches himself closer towards me. “There’s nothing else in the entire universe that I need other than you.” When he presses his lips tenderly against mine, my heart somersaults in my chest and fireworks go off in my brain. He brings his hands down to wrap his arms around me as the kiss only deepens. When he parts away, I can’t help but feel like the first time he kissed me in the forest.

The candlelight flickers dimly against the darkness of the house, casting flickering shadows against the orange glow on the walls. Viktor is warm. Viktor is here and beautiful and warm.

“I love you too, Viktor.” I whisper softly as I bury my face against his chest. I breathe in the familiar, comforting scent of home. His hand settles against my head, his fingers combing lightly against my hair. Viktor makes me feel warm and loved and needed.

When I lift my head up to face him, Viktor is a blurred mosaic of colors.

Viktor makes me feel important. That I am beautiful and strong. He saved me from myself when nothing else did. The weight of his hand is warm and loving as he wipes my tears away.

“I want to spend the rest of my life with you, Viktor.” My lips curl into a smile despite the hitching in my breath. “I want to grow old with you. I know it’s not much but, I want to take care of the farm with you and look after Yurio and Makkachin with you and face every day together.”

“It’s not much, but…” I sniffle. The look in his eyes remains warm and tender.

“Oh, Yuuri,” he croons and leans towards me to place a kiss upon my forehead. “That sounds like a marriage proposal.” He chuckles as I feel my cheeks heat up a bit. If you put it that way, it does sound like a marriage proposal. “It’s more than anything I could ever wish for.”

“I’m glad.” I bring my arms around him in an embrace as I bury my smile against the crook of his neck. “Let’s look after each other for years to come, Viktor.”

“Of course, Yuuri.” He places a kiss on the top of my head as he ruffles my hair gently. “Maybe then you’ll see me truly go bald.” He chuckles brightly.

“But I’ll still love you the same anyway.” I chuckle back as I place a peck on his neck. “And then we’d raise Yurio, see him grow up and accomplish many things in the future.”

“Especially when he has two great dads to look after him.” Viktor erupts into pure, unadulterated laughter, his shoulder shaking as he tightens his hold around me. “And then we’d get to see Makkachin grow bigger and we might probably train her to help us out with the farm duties.”

“I’ve always wanted to have a family of my own someday.” I giggle softly as I pull my face away from the crook of his neck. “I never thought that I could find family with two aliens and a dog.”

“A life full of surprises for someone who never fails to surprise me.” Viktor laughs softly as he runs the back of his fingers gently against my cheek.

“I guess you’re right.” I reach out to tuck the long ends of his fringe behind his ear. His hair had gotten longer ever since we first met, the ends of its strands almost reaching to his shoulders. “You never know when life just surprises you, huh?” I wrap my arms around my neck as I start swaying side to side.

“Do you want to dance with me, Viktor?”

“Why, of course, Mr. Katsuki.” Like the gentleman he is, he takes my hand in his and places the other on my waist as we start dancing a little waltz.

Viktor leads me by the hand as our feet move in time to the silent music of our hearts. His eyes sparkle with joy as our forms cast dancing shadows against the walls. He takes me by the waist and lifts me up into the air to spin me around before pulling me close to kiss me.

The taste of his lips are warm and sweet and loving. When he parts away, those unearthly blue eyes of his glitter beautifully under the candlelight.

Five months ago, Viktor’s eyes were deep and mysterious and as unfathomable as the depths of the deepest ocean, hiding beneath its surface countless secrets I could not bear to even fathom.

Five months later, Viktor’s eyes are the sky—bright and vivid and unfathomable.

When I first saw Viktor, I saw in his eyes the soul of a man whose heart is but one blow away before crumbling into millions of pieces that would never fit against one another ever again. When I look at him now as he holds me in his arms, we’ve filled in the empty voids in each other’s hearts. We are two broken souls that make up a part of a whole.

Viktor and I complete each other.

The sky outside is a thick blanket of black dotted with glittering constellations, the light from the stars only reaching us millions of years before they started their journey from the deep reaches of space. Throughout my bleak existence, I’ve always thought that my life will never measure up to anything in the grand scale of everything both known and unknown. My life is only one of billions, even trillions or quadrillions among the many out there dispersed throughout the cosmos. My existence is tiny, insignificant. Nothing but a speck of dust suspended in a vast and unforgiving universe. When my life is over, I will be nothing a split-second blink in space-time.

And yet, when Viktor holds me, it doesn’t matter anymore.

When I’m with him, my life feels bigger and grander than I ever thought it would be.

He is my world, my universe, my everything.

Throughout this short span of time, I’ve found myself, I’ve found love and a family—all of which I never thought I’d ever get the chance of having in my life. Having Viktor in my life has opened up so much possibilities for me. He showed me just how much I am loved, and how much I am worthy of everyone’s love. It’s not just Viktor. It’s my mom, dad, Mari-neechan, Yurio and all my friends. After all this time, I found that love was all around me after all.

_He showed me that I am strong and beautiful._

“Thank you, Viktor…for coming into my life.”

I look at the stars and I see a glimpse of the past.

I look at the man in front of me and I see my present and my future.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the final chapter finally! :D  
> wow, i never expected that i'd actually come to finally finish something ive started!  
> i've also never expected that this fic would actually reach at least 500 hits!
> 
> thank you so much for taking the time to read my work!
> 
> as usual, if you want to hang, come follow me on Twitter [@chattoyant_zee](https://twitter.com/chattoyant_zee)


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